Route 8 plan may include side road in Boston Heights
BOSTON HEIGHTS - The Route 8 freeway project has spawned a proposal by the county to construct a new road from Hines Hill Road in Boston Heights to Highland Road in Macedonia.
The proposal was introduced Thursday at a community meeting at the Holiday Inn on Hines Hill.
Summit County Engineer Greg Bachman told an audience of about 80 the new road proposal, estimated to cost $8 million to $10 million, is in response to concerns from local residents and business owners about the impact of the Ohio Department of Transportation's plans to cut off access to Route 8 from Twinsburg Road as a part of its $100-million plan to turn Route 8 into a limited access highway between Route 303 in the south to Interstate 271.
Bachman said the county's road project on the east side of Route 8 is in the very early stages and that it is uncertain what its exact configuration would be.
"Even having the road is not a done deal. The alignment is certainly not a done deal," said Bachman.
He said the engineer's office is attempting to form a committee made up of representatives from different groups concerned with the project. Bachman identified these groups as residents, business owners, land owners, developers and public officials from Boston Heights, Northfield Center and Macedonia. He asked those present at the meeting to pick representatives for business owners and for residents.
Harriet Nied of Nied M E Garden Center on Twinsburg Road in Northfield Center and Robert Schneider, president of Patio Enclosures on Highland Road in Macedonia, were elected to represent business owners.
Residents who were present picked Northfield Center resident Jeff Luce and Boston Heights resident Mike Bush to represent residents, with Hudson resident Michael Barton selected as an alternate.
Bachman said that in the coming weeks, he wants to gather names from the other groups, then try to organize a brainstorming session, possibly in late May or early June. Bachman said he is looking for feedback in the planning of the road.
Northfield Center resident Jeff Spangler asked that an Ohio Department of Transportation representative involved in the design of the Route 8 project be asked to attend any future meetings.
Besides helping those on Twinsburg Road, Bachman said the road would open up property to new development. He also said that if construction can be completed by 2008, which is when ODOT plans the major portion of construction on Route 8 from Twinsburg Road to the interstate, the county's road will help relieve traffic problems.
However, Bachman said that since the road would go through a flood plain that includes Brandywine Creek and wetlands, an environmental study will have to be done.
He also said financing is a concern. Possible sources of funding are the federal government, the county engineer's office, the Summit County Department of Development, the Ohio Department of Development, the three communities and state Issue 2 funding, he said.
Proposal draws mixed reactions
Nied indicated that she was not very enthusiastic about the new road, saying customers to her business who currently use Route 8 to get there will have a hard time finding her.
"It isn't any help at all," said Nied. "I feel that the state should give us an access road onto Route 8. That's what we've been requesting for four years."
Don Quist, owner of Tire Barn on Twinsburg Road, said he believes the road might be helpful.
"I think it has merit. There's going to be a lot of planning and discussion. Some people are going to be happy. Some people are going to be unhappy," said Quist.
"What's the alternative?" Quist added, referring to the proposed road. "ODOT has made up its mind."
Paul Jackson, owner of Jackson Comfort Systems on Twinsburg Road in Northfield Center, said he believes it would have been better for ODOT to eliminate the grass strip between the north and southbound traffic on Route 8, construct a concrete barrier and use the extra land to add lanes to relieve traffic problems. Jackson said that he, too, does not believe the proposed road would be very helpful, though he acknowledges it would be better than nothing.
"It would be better than just shutting us down," he said.
Jackson also said he owns about 90 acres north of Twinsburg Road, only about 10 of which are being used by his business. Jackson said the land is in the corridor where the proposed road would go and Jackson said the road's construction would make development easier.
Luce, who lives in Charter Estates, just north of Twinsburg Road on the west side of Route 8, said he likes the plan to build the road.
"I was afraid that with Twinsburg Road losing access that we would be cut off," said Luce. "Without that road, our entire development would flood onto Olde Eight Road."
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