ThisWeek 08/06/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/08/03/madison-township-speeding-cars-on-wingate-road-remain-a-concern.html

Residents once again have approached Madison Township officials with concerns about speeding through neighborhoods, asking for engagement with Franklin County to install traffic-calming devices.

At the July 15 trustees’ meeting, Wingate Road resident Amber Knapp said targeted police enforcement along her street had helped, but when the police leave, Wingate becomes a speed zone for traffic cutting between the busier Noe Bixby and Hamilton roads.

“We have a speeding problem on Wingate. It’s an easy cut across from Hamilton Road over to Noe Bixby Road, and the police helped out by placing an officer on our street, and (Road Superintendent Dave Weaver) placed some targeted enforcement area signs below the speed-limit signs, but that hasn’t really helped over the long run,” Knapp said.

She said the new Family Dollar store situated across the intersection from Wingate Road, on the west side of Hamilton Road, has exacerbated the traffic issues.

“Last evening, 20 cars went by and 13 of them were clearly speeding. This happens mostly in the evening,” Knapp said. “We have a lot of older residents, and we don’t have sidewalks to take walks on; and it’s a pretty smooth street so people can whiz right through, so it’s unsafe to walk along the street and that’s a problem.”

Trustee Gary McDonald said as with other areas of Blacklick Estates, the township has no power to install traffic-calming devices on its own and is required to approach the county with issues.

“A lot of residents are concerned, but checking with on-site supervisors at Family Dollar about the traffic flow, they were very evasive about not wanting to talk about it.

“So at this point in time, the traffic flow and changes to the roadway are up in the air; We can try and control the traffic going onto Wingate but we have no other control of that intersection,” McDonald said.

Knapp asked about the possibility of installing speed bumps or rumble strips on Wingate; however, those types of traffic-calming devices require approval from the county, as well as the completion of a traffic study.

In recent years, the township has approached the county for similar requests and has been denied based on the findings of the traffic studies.

McDonald asked staff to bring up the issue with the county engineer again.

In the meantime, Trustee Victor Paini asked Police Chief Ken Braden to use the speed-monitoring wagon on Wingate Road and station officers during peak traffic times.

Knapp said the afternoon rush hour is the worst for speeding, and she thanked the township for offering to resume the targeted enforcement.