City Will Have Second Public Meeting on Roundabouts

After a public meeting on Oct. 20, about the two planned roundabouts on SR 91.

That's why the mayor and city council members said at a caucus meeting Monday, they thought it would be best to have another public meeting, with a more formal presentation on the plans, tentitavely planned for February.

The plans would widen SR 91 from Post Road north to the Solon city limit and building two modern roundabouts at the Glenwood Drive and Ethans Drive/Meadowood Boulevard intersections.

The GPD Group, the engineering firm working on the project, gave a formal presentation during a caucus meeting, which was open to the public, bringing council members up to speed on the project and the comments from the Oct. 20 meeting.

Out of 100 comments given at the Oct. 20 meeting, GDP said 11 were in favor of the project, eight were against, and 72 agreed with the road widening but not the roundabouts. Many of the residents were concerned with pedestrian safety.

"Roundabouts are well known for their safety," said Ed Franks, a GDP representative. Franks said there are 78 percent less crash related injuries on roundabouts than with typical intersections because there are fewer opportunities, cars move in the same direction, and they have slower speeds.

Ward 2 Councilman Bob McDermott said he was curious to see if there was a significant increase fender-benders on roundabouts.

"Any intersection is going to have accidents, no matter what we build," Franks said.

Members of council in attendance said they weren't opposed to the project, but some of their residents don't like the idea.

Moving forward

City Engineer Amy Mohr said next week she will be sending the city's responses to the public comments from Oct. 20 to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for its approval. Once approved by ODOT, the answers to residents' questions will be published on the city's website, in , and other places by Jan. 4, as required by law.

Mohr said she won't go ahead with the plans until after the public meeting in February. However, if it is decided to change the plans, the city will have to go back to make those changes, costing the city money and moving back the project further.

"You basically put the project about a year behind, by the time you redo the documents, redo the meeting, and have more comments," Mohr said.

The project will also consist of the following changes:

• Widen the roadway to three lanes to add a two-way left turn lane from Post Road to south of Glenwood Drive. Each lane is proposed to be 12 feet wide with a total roadway width of 36 feet (plus 2 inch curb and gutter each side).

• Widen the roadway from south of Glenwood Drive to the City of Solon to four lanes to meet the existing four lane section at the City of Solon. Each lane is proposed to be 12 feet wide with a total roadway width of 48 feet (plus 2 inch curb & gutter each side).

• Construct a modern roundabout at the intersection of Darrow Road and Glenwood Drive.

• Construct a modern roundabout at the intersection of Darrow Road and Ethans Drive/Meadowood Blvd.

• Construct four-foot sidewalks on both sides of SR 91 from Post Road to Solon with crosswalks curb ramps at intersections.

• Upgrade the existing traffic signal at the Post Road intersection.

• Reconstruct the existing/widened pavement and apply new pavement markings.

• Improve the sight distance by lowering the roadway grade north of Glenwood.

• Improve roadway drainage by constructing new pavement with curbs, catch basins, a new storm sewer system, and new post construction storm water treatment measures.