The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
City focusing efforts on roadways
Avalon Drive, a busy road in North Ridgeville, has drawn the attention of some of the residents and elected officials.
First Ward City Councilman Gregg A. Westover has said he is concerned about excess speeding and requests for officers to make more frequent stops on Avalon that connects to Stoney Ridge and Case Road.
Mayor G. David Gillock said the city is focusing its efforts on the roadway.
Westove has questioned as to why he hasn’t noticed traffic stops being made for speeding on a busy and road with many children.
Gillock said the North Ridgeville Police Department analyzed traffic on Avalon a number of times with its Stealth Meter.
He said the city also retained help from a professional engineering to review the situation.
LJB Inc. performed a study in July 2016 after looking over the issue and results concluded “excessive speeding is not a concern along Avalon Drive,” the mayor said.
“Our Stealth Meter gives us a record of times, speed, etc. over a given period of time,” Gillock said. “Results have shown that 85 percent of the traffic is within expected parameters.”
In an email to a concerned resident from North Ridgeville police Chief Mike Freeman, provided by Gillock, indicated Avalon has been a point of emphasis for years.
Freeman said officers have repeatedly placed the “Stealth Stat,” which shows the number of cars and the speed in which they travel on Avalon.
The vast majority of cars operating on the road drive the posted speed limit, he said.
Freeman said there have been four crashes on Avalon in the last two years.
During that time, he said there were 1,069 crashes on other North Ridgeville streets.
Freeman said if there were no officers present in the area, traffic accidents wouldn’t be just .004 percent of all crashes occurring in those two years.
However, city officials are aware there is a lot of traffic on Avalon.
Gillock said the anticipated
peak hour volume of traffic is 475 vehicles and Avalon sees 499.
The city has considered opening up Barres Road to alleviate some of the traffic on Avalon, but it would require a lot of work, he said.
If Barres was to reopen, the city would need to build a new road and a bridge over a ditch, roughly at a cost of $3 million, Gillock said.
With that amount of funds, which the city does not currently have, it would
need to be taken from other projects such as road repair, he said.
Also, with no proof that opening up Barres would relieve any traffic, Gillock said he doesn’t believe it would be the correct solution to the issue.
As a dedicated public street, Gillock said the public is allowed to use it.
Freeman added North Ridgeville police officers do their best to stay in the neighborhoods and conduct traffic related duties.