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Howland highways to change their looks

When it comes to deciding what to write about for my monthly Howland Community News columns, I always try to think of something that will educate my fellow residents with some historical fact they may not know about their township or with something that is relevant to what might be currently going on in their community.

Within the second category is the newest two community actions that will both involve the Ohio Department of Transportation concerning state Route 82, state Route 46, Howland Wilson Road SE, Kenyon Drive, Howland Springs Road and then Warren Sharon Road.

If you did not attend the informative ODOT community assembly at the high school, you do not read a local newspaper or watch television or listen to radio news, the planning of one or both proposed future township highway safety projects may be totally new to you.

• Plan 1: ODOT has a diverging diamond-shaped figure eight on Route 46 on the planning board to alleviate accidents and congestion at the Routes 46 and 82 bypass. This new design should eliminate off- and on-ramp collisions and could reduce the number of potential rear-end collisions on state Route 46. A relocating of the west end of the Howland Springs hill road exit onto Route 46 would make egress onto Route 46 less of a time-consuming, life-threatening ordeal, as it would line up the existing Kenyon Drive with a traffic light as a cross road to Howland Springs Road.

The proposed new east end of Kenyon Drive would come out above the existing curve on Howland Springs Road to make it more vision favorable toward avoiding accidents. With the plan’s regulated streamlined flow of traffic on Route 46, Hiram Place residents also would benefit considerably by having their problem of making a northbound exit onto Route 46 easier.

A probable site of residents’ opposition with this total proposed Plan 1 will probably involve state Route 82 at Howland Wilson Road SE. The ODOT plan would impose two near cul-de-sac closures of the now existing throughway on Howland Wilson Road. (Possibly this part of the total plan could be reconsidered or eliminated to not hold up the whole other parts of the proposal due for 2023).

• Plan 2: ODOT proposes to make the current exit ramp from state Route 82 that now only allows travel west into Warren to become a traffic signal, allowing both west and east traffic turns onto Warren Sharon Road. Illegal turns to the east from the present off ramp would be nullified, thus eliminating accidents that now occur from cars crossing oncoming westbound lanes. A complete study of the effects of the new traffic light will need to consider any added congestion that might result at the Heaton North Road interchange at the existing Warren Sharon Road traffic lights.

Overall, the state planners at ODOT, in conjunction with your Trumbull County officials and Howland Township officials, seem to have compiled a thorough study of how to make improvements to try and remedy Howland’s increasing traffic congestion problem and safety concerns on Route 46, Warren Sharon Road, Howland Springs Road, Kenyon Drive and a part of Route 82.

ODOT plans to seek community input concerning all parts of both projects.

Taiclet is the vice president of the Howland Historical Society. He can be reached at 330-856-1115.

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