Granger Road roundabout complete
Area expected to see 89 percent drop in deaths
The $2.5 million roundabout construction project, funded by a federal grant earmarked specifically for roundabout construction, began May 30; a few days after Highland schools dismissed for the summer, and was completed Aug. 22, the day before the new school year began. Photo by KEVIN MCMANUS
GRANGER – The roundabout at the intersection of state Route 94 and Granger Road is finished.
The barricades are down, state Route 94 is open, as is Granger Road, and the intersection that was closed for 84 days is once again operational.
The $2.5 million construction project, funded by a federal grant earmarked specifically for roundabout construction, began May 30; a few days after Highland schools dismissed for the summer, and was completed Aug. 22, the day before the new school year began. Tom Csanyi, of No. 1 Landscaping of Granger, donated the landscaping that graces the center of the roundabout.
Of the project, which had been awarded to Fechko Construction Co. of Medina, Andy Blazek, Ohio Department of Transportation District Three project engineer, said, “The project had a lot of work that was completed in a very short amount of time. Despite a few hurdles, we are happy to have the road open prior to the start of school.”
After repeated unsuccessful attempts to reduce the number of crashes at the intersection by implementing various improvements, including speed advisories on SR 94, dual stop signs on Granger Road and additional warning signs, ODOT officials announced at a public information meeting in June, 2013 that a modern roundabout would be constructed.
ODOT purchased 3.7 acres of land to construct the roundabout, which is 144 feet in diameter, smaller than older roundabouts, but which can easily be navigated by large trucks, as it has a truck apron to provide more space if needed.
In a previous conversation, Julie Cichello, traffic engineer for ODOT District Three, said the construction of a modern roundabout “will reduce the number of crashes and help reduce the severity of those that do occur.” She said because traffic flows in only one direction around a center island in a roundabout (counterclockwise), there is an 89 percent reduction in fatalities and a 76 percent reduction in injury crashes. Crash data from 2011 to 2016 revealed a total of 27 crashes at the SR 94/Granger Road intersection, 10 of which were injury crashes and 17 were property damage. She said this roundabout will be able to serve up to 25,000 vehicles a day. Current volume is 9,000 a day.
The barricades are down, state Route 94 is open, as is Granger Road, and the intersection that was closed for 84 days is once again operational.
The $2.5 million construction project, funded by a federal grant earmarked specifically for roundabout construction, began May 30; a few days after Highland schools dismissed for the summer, and was completed Aug. 22, the day before the new school year began. Tom Csanyi, of No. 1 Landscaping of Granger, donated the landscaping that graces the center of the roundabout.
Of the project, which had been awarded to Fechko Construction Co. of Medina, Andy Blazek, Ohio Department of Transportation District Three project engineer, said, “The project had a lot of work that was completed in a very short amount of time. Despite a few hurdles, we are happy to have the road open prior to the start of school.”
After repeated unsuccessful attempts to reduce the number of crashes at the intersection by implementing various improvements, including speed advisories on SR 94, dual stop signs on Granger Road and additional warning signs, ODOT officials announced at a public information meeting in June, 2013 that a modern roundabout would be constructed.
ODOT purchased 3.7 acres of land to construct the roundabout, which is 144 feet in diameter, smaller than older roundabouts, but which can easily be navigated by large trucks, as it has a truck apron to provide more space if needed.
In a previous conversation, Julie Cichello, traffic engineer for ODOT District Three, said the construction of a modern roundabout “will reduce the number of crashes and help reduce the severity of those that do occur.” She said because traffic flows in only one direction around a center island in a roundabout (counterclockwise), there is an 89 percent reduction in fatalities and a 76 percent reduction in injury crashes. Crash data from 2011 to 2016 revealed a total of 27 crashes at the SR 94/Granger Road intersection, 10 of which were injury crashes and 17 were property damage. She said this roundabout will be able to serve up to 25,000 vehicles a day. Current volume is 9,000 a day.