The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Fatal crash site ineligible for traffic signal
ODOT: Hosford-Route 44 intersection doesn’t meet warrant criteria
The site of a fatal crash in Geauga County doesn’t warrant a traffic signal, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
ODOT conducted a study of the Route 44-Hosford Road intersection in Chardon Township following the death of two teens in June.
“The results of the study are that the intersection does not meet any warrants for a traffic signal to be installed,” said District 12 Spokeswoman Amanda McFarland.
She added that ODOT is committed to making the following improvements at the intersection:
• Adding another stop bar on the pavement on Hosford Road westbound at Route 44. There now will be one behind the multiuse trail as well as one at the stop sign.
• Tree-trimming along the east side of Route 44 to help improve sight distance.
Those safety measures are in addition to the LED flashing stop signs that were installed June 15 — in place of regular stop signs — on either side of Route 44 at Hosford.
Chardon High School graduates Jackson Condon, 17, of Chardon, and Dominic Ricci, 18, of Huntsburg Township, died after a June 6 crash in which the westbound Toyota Prius driven by Condon failed to stop at a stop sign at Hosford and 44 and was hit by a southbound Sterling commercial truck, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol.
Ricci was taken by rescue squad to TriPoint Medical Center in Concord Township and pronounced dead on arrival, the OHP said. Condon suffered critical injuries and was flown from the scene by medical helicopter to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. He died the following afternoon.
Authorities said no alcohol, drugs or cellphone use were suspected in the crash, which occurred at 12:25 p.m.
Ohio’s warrants for “Justifying Traffic Control Signals” are explained in Chapter 4 of the Ohio Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
The warrants are as follows:
• Eight-hour vehicular volume
• Four-hour vehicular volume • Peak hour • Pedestrian volume • School crossing • Coordinated signal system • Crash experience • Roadway network • Intersection near a grade crossing
“Not all nine warrants need to be met for a traffic signal to be installed,” McFarland said. “At least … one, two or three must be met. However, engineering judgment is also used to determine if that is enough to consider the location.”
Route 44 is classified as a principal arterial with a 55 mph speed limit at Hosford. Average daily traffic is nearly 12,000 vehicles, based on ODOT’s 2016 data. The speed limit on Hosford is 45 mph, and average daily traffic is 2,664 vehicles.
The signal warrant analysis was performed using traffic count data collected Sept. 6. In addition, ODOT reviewed crash records (warrant 7) dating back to 2013. During the most recent year reviewed — July 2016 through June 2017 — a total of eight crashes occurred at Route 44 and Hosford, including the June 6 fatality.
Six of the eight crashes were determined correctable by signalization. Five of the six resulted in injuries or death. The warrant criteria requires a minimum five crashes within a 12-month period to meet one condition of the seventh warrant.
“This warrant alone cannot be used to justify a traffic signal,” McFarland noted.
In all six crashes, the at-fault vehicle was westbound on Hosford Road.
Within the last three years — July 2014 to June 2017 — only two additional crashes happened at this location, and neither is correctable with a traffic signal, the report said. One involved a deer and the other was a rear-end collision on the westbound approach at Hosford.
“Within a broader context, the recent trend of six ‘preventable’ collisions appears to be out of line with the historical crash performance of the intersection, which, until just recently, appears to have been satisfactory,” the study says.
Warrant 7 calls for an “adequate trial of alternatives” as a condition of meeting the crash experience requirements. To date, the LED stop signs are the lone alternative to be added.
“Consequently, this office determines that Warrant 7 is not met,” the report reads.
Suggested countermeasures in the short term include the additional stop bar on Hosford and monitoring crash activity to determine whether the recent crash trend continues.
Down the road, ODOT may install a Collision Warning System, which would warn Route 44 of traffic waiting to enter or cross Hosford.
Currently, there are no such systems used in Ohio, but they are being considered at a few locations on a pilot basis.
Adding a traffic signal hasn’t been ruled out, according to the report, but roadway modifications would be required in the form of significant pavement widening.