May 22, 2001
Study sought for Tiffin loop road
By Erik Burriss
Staff Writer
The mayor asked City Council to consider funding a study to begin the process that may result in a loop road for Tiffin Monday night.
The county, Clinton and Hopewell townships, the Seneca-Sandusky-Tiffin Port Authority, the Tiffin Area Chamber of Commerce, the Seneca Industrial and Economic Development Corp. and a pair of private developers already have agreed to contribute to the study.
"We've got a pretty good cross section of support," SIEDC president Rich Focht told the council. "It is important for the private sector to step foreword, and on this one they have."
The townships have agreed to contribute $1,000 each toward the $22,000 study. The port authority would pay $5,000, the developers would pay $2,500 each while the chamber and SIEDC would contribute $1,500 each. The remaining $7,000 would be split by the city and county. Mayor Bernie Hohman asked City Council to fund up to $4,000 while County Commissioner Ken Estep said the county will pay up to $5,000.
The planning study would focus on Tiffin's traffic patterns and propose possible routes to increase access to the city's north and south ends, as well as looking at a loop road northwest of town connecting SR 53 and SR 18, Mayor Bernie Hohman said.
"This is a study to look at the community and plan long range," Focht said.
Potential purchasers of land at the North Star Industrial Park decided against the site because of the lack of road access to the area, he said.
Having a study and following it up with a plan for recommended projects are necessary to get state and federal funding, Focht said.
Dale Depew expressed concern about what would happen to the city's merchants if an easy way to bypass Tiffin were constructed, and wondered if widening of SR 53 could provide enough road access without the need for a loop road.
"I'm a businessman," the 1st Ward councilman said, "the more vehicles go past your business, the better off you are."
Effects on existing businesses would be part of the study, Focht said, however it would be unlikely that the traffic the loop road would benefit would do much shopping.
"Trucks aren't going to stop," he said.