ODOT weighs roundabout at Deerfield Twp. intersection
DEERFIELD TWP. − Motorists should expect big change in the next few years at the intersection of U.S. Route 224 and State Route 225 in Deerfield Township.
Citing a large number of crashes, the Ohio Department of Transportation is planning the construction of a roundabout at the intersection, said Ray Marsch, spokesperson for ODOT’s District 4 office in Akron, in an email to The Record-Courier.
Marsch said ODOT has secured $4.6 million from ODOT’s Highway Safety Program for the project, but it is in the early stages.
“This proposed project is estimated to begin in 2027,” Marsch said. He added that the public will be given an opportunity to comment.
History of crashes
Deerfield trustees spoke for a few minutes about the proposed roundabout during their Dec. 27 meeting, as shown on a YouTube video shot during the meeting by Deerfield Township News, a volunteer group of residents working to provide transparency in township government.
“When I heard about the roundabout, I thought, ‘how annoying,’” said Trustee Tiffany Havens. “Everybody hates roundabouts.”
However, she and Trustee Charles “Ed” Dean said crashes have been a problem at the intersection and they have reviewed information about studies that indicate roundabouts can reduce the number of crashes and their severity.
“I’m going to say God bless them for helping us out,” said Dean. “A lot of crashes happen there every year.”
Walt Carrington, who has owned Deerfield Skating Center on the intersection’s northeast corner for six years, said he understands that something should be done. “Since I’ve been there, there’s definitely a lot of accidents,” he said “But nobody has died there in all those accidents, and most of the accidents that we see are just drivers not paying attention.”
Carrington said he wonders if a less expensive alternative should be tried first, suggesting traffic signals and adding turn lanes.
“A whole lot cheaper than $5 million, but that’s just my opinion,” said Carrington. “I’m not the guy that does investigating and what they do.”
In its 2018-20 survey of 186 “high crash” intersections in in Portage and Summit counties, as well as Chippewa and Milton townships in Wayne County, the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study ranked the 224/ 225 intersection No. 1, with 25 crashes over the three years.
In calculating its rankings, AMATS looks at not only the number of crashes, but also variables such as average daily traffic count and percentage of crashes involving injuries and deaths.
In its 2019-21 report, AMATS ranked the intersection at No. 6, with 28 crashes. According to the reports, there were no fatalities during the combined four-year period they cover, but 60% of the 2018-20 crashes involved injuries, while 50% involved injuries during the 2019-21 period.
Marsch said that according to
data, from 2016 to 2020, there were 46 crashes at the intersection, 25 resulting in injuries. This was enough, he said, to rank the intersection at No. 8 on ODOT’s 2020 Highway Safety Improvement Program Rural Intersection list.
Roundabouts touted as safer
Currently, the 224/225 intersection is a two-way stop. Traffic control is provided by stop signs for motorists traveling north and south along State Route 225 and overhead flashers.
“The roundabout alternative provides a safer and more efficient operation than a traffic signal,” said Marsch.
According to ODOT’s website, Federal Highway Administration studies indicate that roundabouts reduce crashes 44% when they replace traditional twoway stop intersections, and 48% when they replace intersections with traffic signals. Serious injury and fatal crashes were reduced, according to these studies, by 90% at former two-way stop intersections, and 80% at former intersections with traffic signals.
For one thing, ODOT says, roundabouts have far fewer “contact points” − or locations at which vehicles can intersect and crash. Roundabouts also force vehicles to slow down to a safer speed than traditional intersections, ODOT also says. Officials in Carmel, Indiana, say on the city’s website that it has constructed more than 150 roundabouts since the late 1990s.
“The number of injury accidents in Carmel have reduced by about 80% and the number of accidents overall by about 40%,” according to the website.
As for efficiency, ODOT cites an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study that says roundabouts reduce both vehicle delays and fuel consumption when compared to signalized intersections. ODOT also says roundabouts in Ohio are designed to efficiently accommodate larger vehicles, such as trucks and farm equipment.
Fore more information about roundabouts, go to:
Ohio Department of Transportation — tinyurl.com/mr4aznxt
Federal Highway Administration — tinyurl.com/yjnntf62
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety — www.iihs.org/topics/roundabouts
The Federal Highway Administration also has created educational YouTube videos about roundabouts. Check out the above website. Examples include Modern Roundabouts: An innovative solution to intersection safety concerns and Rules of the Roundabout.
Minimizing property impacts
Community members say the township and ODOT must complete some right-of-way acquisitions. Such locations are a parking lot for Deerfield Skating on the northeast corner, and a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency superfund site on the southeast corner.
“The roundabout will be positioned to minimize impacts to parking to the Deerfield Skate Center and limit [rightODOT’s
of-way] needed from the superfund site,” said Marsch.
Carrington said ODOT has not formally approached him about its plans for a roundabout, but he said he spoke to an employee who said the roundabout would be offset to take vacant land on the intersection’s southwest corner.
“So it won’t actually take any of my parking lot at all,” Carrington said, adding he’s waiting to see what happens in the final plans.
Marsch cautioned that it is too early to say anything for sure.
“Right-of-way acquisitions are associated with this job, but since this project just received funding, it is in the preliminary stages, and nothing is finalized at this time,” he said.
According to the EPA’s website, the 11.5-acre superfund site was a coal strip mine containing a coal wash pond and stockpile. From 1974 to 1978, the site was used as a waste disposal facility for oil, resin, paint and metal plating sludge, and flammable and chlorinated solvents.
After more than 30 years of effort, the land/soil cleanup was ruled complete in 2022, with monitoring and five-year reviews continuing. However, clean up of groundwater continues.
County has roundabouts, more expected
A Deerfield roundabout wouldn’t be the first in Portage County, and likely won’t be the last.
After three months of construction, ODOT opened a $1.9 million roundabout at State Route 82 and Chamberlain Road in July 2022. In recent years prior to that, two roundabouts opened along East Summit Street on the south side of Kent State University at Johnston and Ted Boyd drives and at Risman and Campus Center drives. A roundabout was also constructed at Summit Drive and Powder Mill Road in Franklin Township.
Meanwhile, as part of about $25 million in improvements planned along East Main Street in Kent, roundabouts are in the works at Willow Street and Haymaker Parkway at the project’s west end, and Overlook Drive near the east end.
The project, funded with federal grants and city money, also includes wider sidewalks and a tree lawn on the north side of the street and shared bike and pedestrian paths on the south side of the street.
“The two roundabouts are still on track to be included in the East Main Street Transportation Project,” Kent City Manager Dave Ruller said in an email to The Record-Courier. “The project is still in the engineering phase with construction likely to begin in 2025.”
Further down the road, Marsch said ODOT is looking at State Route 14 at Infirmary Road in Ravenna Township and State Route 43 at Trares Road in Suffield Township as possible sites for roundabouts.