The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Residents have concerns over road construction
An increase in car crashes and the devaluation of property remained the most prominent concerns of Amherst residents regarding the upcoming road construction project on North Main Street. This application for the project was approved by City Council last fall and was approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation. With $625,000 worth of funds to be made available by ODOT in July, the city has worked with Bramhall Engineering and Surveying Company to finish surveying for the project. The city also will pitch in $728,000 for the project, which
Mayor Mark Costilow said during a March 4 City Council meeting will come from several different departments. Bramhall’s project manager Aaron Appell said improvements to the intersection at North Main Street and Cooper Foster Park Road will include adding left turn lanes, increasing left lane storage, lane widening, road repaving and a new traffic signal. Construction will impact North Main Street south from the Cooper Foster Park Road intersection for 1,000 feet. In addition, a lane in the S turn will be shifted east. “We’re working through that design right now,” Appell said. Erosion prevention methods also will take place on the eroding hillside on the side of the road, as well as water drainage and sewer improvements. “(The hillside) is stable, but we want to get the roadway shift over to make that a safer long-term solution,” Appell said. Although not guaranteed, the improvements to the road are projected to last 15 to 20 years, he said. Costilow said the project will not infringe on residents’ private property, as all construction will be done in the city’s right of way, which shouldn’t be more than 12 feet. However, the road shift has left residents living on the road’s curve on Beaver Creek concerned that the construction will prove too invasive. Lucy Jara of Amherst said the construction could heavily impact the valuation of her house and severely diminish her driveway, adding she should sell her home before the devaluation hits. “I doubt very seriously that you’re considering compensating any of us of what we will lose in property value if this goes ahead,” Jara said, adding the right of way may take half her driveway. Additionally, she said surveyors have begun blocking her driveway. “I have been very disappointed with the level of communication of the city, the engineering group,” Jara said. Rhonda Henthorne of Amherst also expressed similar concerns, since she has two trees that may be well over 100 years old that she fears will need to be cut down for the project. Additionally, she said traffic is a problem on the road and may get worse with the reconstruction. “I am gonna have somebody in the living room, the way they come flying around out there, and we have had multiple accidents, ton of damage to our property as it is,” Henthorne said. “If you’re going to move the road east, are you going to take my trees, are you going to take my ditch?” Costilow said the project is in the early stages of engineering and surveying to determine where the right of way may be for property owners. “I really do take into consideration how this does affect you; we’re not taking this project lightly,” he said, adding that the surveyor’s flags on the properties are no indication of where construction may take place. “It’s showing where the gas lines are, where the water lines are, where the right of way is, where the property lines are. “There is so much we have to mark so that we can see how we can improve this area with impacting you as little as possible.” Costilow said as soon as the city knows more about the engineering of the project, a public meeting will be set to inform residents of the impacts of construction. For those more intimately affected by the project, Costilow said he and the engineers are willing to meet privately.