June 13, 1999
Increase in accidents calls for change in left-protected turns
By Malinda Ruble
Staff Writer
FOSTORIA &emdash; Since the new traffic signals were installed on Countyline Street a few months ago, traffic accidents have become more serious and have occurred more often &emdash; that is about to change.
Fostoria Safety Service Director Ron Reinhard said Wednesday the Ohio Department of Transportation has refused to alter the signalization project, which is nearly completed, by adding protected left turns. However, the city plans to return the left turns, once the project is complete.
"We've had a lot of accidents on Countyline. Luckily, we've had no one killed, but we've had people receive some very serious injuries. We've requested ODOT to give assistance in going back to protected left turns, and they have said they will not participate and will not give us any funds because the left turns were not part of the original design of the project,'' Reinhard said.
The city had hired URS, a consulting firm in Columbus, to design the project, in conjunction with ODOT, to increase the flow of traffic on Countyline Street.
However, ODOT officials said the agency did review the project, but focused on making sure the project met state and federal guidelines.
"The city hired a consultant to design the project and it was approved by the city of Fostoria and we went ahead and started construction procedures to finish the project the way it was originally designed. When there is federal money involved with projects, there are certain procedures you have to follow and completing the project as it was designed originally is one of them,'' said Jamie Faught, public relations director for ODOT.
Reinhard said no one realized the elimination of protected left turns would cause so many problems.
"We're moving traffic better and faster than we have ever done, but we've created more intersections with accident problems than before,'' he said. "As safety service director in Fostoria, I have to address this &emdash; we can't let this continue to occur.''
Once the project is completed and released by ODOT, city officials plan to place protected left turns at the intersections of North, Fremont and Elm streets with Countyline Street.
"Those intersections have been an intersection nightmare,'' Reinhard said.
Reinhard said the details of the plan have not been worked out, but things will change.
"The engineer is working on a plan to do this. We're going to have Eagle Equipment Co. give us a price on some new signal heads. We have to change this for the safety of the citizens,'' he said.
However, traffic will not be stopped in both directions, as it was before the upgrade, for the left turns.
The project will be funded from the city's state highway fund.
"We're trying to make a bad situation better for our citizens,'' he said.