Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Proceed with caution
Pickerington will seek state funding to make a safer intersection
By TAMARIA L. KULEMEKA
The Eagle-Gazette Staff
tkulemeka@nncogannett.com



PICKERINGTON - The intersection of State Route 256 and Refugee Road is a danger zone.

Most of the city's vehicle crashes occur at that intersection, exceeding the Ohio Department of Transportation's average, according to a traffic signal report done by the city engineer.


''It's higher than what the state allows,'' said Pickerington City Councilman Ted Hackworth. ''I've had a few close calls myself, but I'm retired so I don't go out during rush hour.''
Tammy Jones wasn't surprised to hear that the intersection is accident-prone. Jones lives in Violet Township and travels through the intersection two to four times a day. Her vehicle has come close to being rear-ended several times.

''People run lights,'' said the 35-year-old. ''They ignore the lights, and it's really congested in there, and it all stems from there being one way in and one way out. Everyone's trying to make the light and they get impatient. It's peoples' fault.''

The report was conducted to help officials improve traffic flow throughout the city.

On average, more than 12,000 vehicles travel the State Route 256 and Refugee Road intersection throughout the week, and more than 13,500 people travel the road on the weekends.

Numbers from the signal report show there were 22 crashes at the intersection in 2003 and 26 crashes at the intersection in 2002.

Because of the crash numbers exceed the state's standards, the city is eligible for grant money to better help traffic flow through the intersection, Hackworth said.

Hackworth said the Service Committee will authorize the city manager to apply for the funding at the next meeting. There are several options ''up in the air,'' Hackworth said.

''The state could fund a parallel road to relieve some of the traffic or put in an extra turn lane,'' he said. ''There's a lot of data. We will see what ODOT's willing to do.''

Taking advantage of any funding that would help correct problems at the intersection is critical, said Councilwoman Cristie Hammond.

''The projections indicate that intersection is only going to get worse,'' Hammond said. ''If we can circumvent some of the problems, I think that would be a great thing. The report also indicates that the crashes are not serious from an injury standpoint but that, too, could change in the future.''

Jones believes crashes at the intersection could be reduced if the speed limit was lowered to 40 or 45 miles per hour.

''The speed limit is 50 and people are going 65,'' she said. ''The police need to start giving out more tickets there. I think that's the only thing that would help.''

The report focused on six traffic lights and intersections in the city.



By Piston Head

Road Rage Cont.

In addition to Refugee Road and State Route 256, the other top two high accident intersections in the city are Tussing Road and State Route 256 and Old Diley Road and State Route 256.

The report also showed that evening peak hour traffic is 150 percent more than morning peak hour traffic.

Hackworth said there are several things in the report that will be addressed for years to come.

''Obviously the biggest thing concern is (State Route) 256 and Refugee Road,'' he said. ''We're going to give that to ODOT and get some fixing on that.''

Jones hopes the city also will focus on creating another entrance and exit point.

''Pickerington is a busy town,'' she said. ''There's a lot of people and not a lot of roads in and out.''

Originally published March 1, 2006




Tips to avoid road rage:

Driving on a road where traffic gets congested can cause road rage. Here are 10 tips to avoid road rage:


Never take the other driver personally, he/she is only reacting on a road rage instinct.


Don't make eye contact with an angry driver.


Before you react to anything that is done to you, ask yourself, ''Is getting back at that jerk worth my life?''


Be polite and courteous, even when others are not.


Always ask yourself, ''Could the other driver have possibly made a mistake?''


If you are harassed by another driver and being followed, do not go home. Go to the nearest police detachment.


Slow down and relax.


Never underestimate other drivers' capacity for mayhem.


Reduce your driving stress by allowing enough time to get where you are going.


Remember that you cannot control the drivers around you, but you can control the way they affect your well-being.




By Piston Head

Road Rage final

The previous posting comes from our good friends at the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. It appears they are much more interested in creating a spark or a controversy than reporting the news and understanding a story. They puff up their ?“story?” by also posting next to their article tips on road rage. Despite not showing ANY evidence of road rage. Then they report that there were 48 accidents in a two year period at this intersection. So if we are averaging 12 to 13 thousand cars a day through the Refugee and 256 intersection then that seems to be pretty good to me that after we have passed each our 175,000 times two of us have touched in some manner.

Then they interview a Violet Township resident to talk about the city?’s ?“accident prone?” intersection. So to help the lady out in the township I think the City of Pickerington should install one of those metering lights that limits the number of Township residents into our city during rush hour. ODOT does that up at I-70. Or at the very least give the township residents very short greens and install no left turn on red signs. Those mornings when we are all backed up on 256, ODOT has shortened the time Pickerington is allowed to get onto I-70 west bound. So this would just back traffic out 204, Stonecreek Dr and Refugee.

The township resident?’s second brilliant idea was to have another access point onto I-70. Ms township lady maybe you need to take that up with the Township Trustees. Pickerington has no more visibility or access to I-70.

Clearly the township has been very short sighted in the last decade or so in providing the needed infrastructure to support the thousands of homes they have allowed to be built. In Summerfield alone there are over 1,000 homes and there has been nothing provided to support that sub-division outside of its own internal street system. The trustees for years have not been held accountable for the mess they have allowed to happen around them and in each case they created the problem and then they have expected the surrounding government entities to provide where they have failed.

Now that the roof tops are here the Trustees are entertaining the issue of allowing two bog box stores to be built at the corner of Refugee and Pickerington Roads. Just how will the customers get to these two stores and will it be on these two lanes roads? Will the developer actually build a turn lane or two? As long as the grid lock in not in front of their store I doubt they really care. If you all look at the past history of our fine township trustees then you will note they are one of the poorest planners of roads and other infrastructure resulting in a constant game of passing the buck to the City or the County. It is never their fault for the mess.









By Piston Head

CHECK THE FUNDING

Dear Piston Head:

You should check the funding for S.R.256. I know the most (up to 90%) of the monies for upgrading, expanding, paving of S.R. 256 came from the State of Ohio or Federal funding. The Township lady sends money to the Ohio and Federal governments just like you do.