ThisWeek CW 10/30/2014

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/10/27/morpc-points-out-problem-intersections.html

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission has released its Top 40 Regional High-Crash Intersection report, with a handful of Canal Winchester-area intersections making the 2011-13 list.

According to MORPC’s report, the “high-crash location lists are intended to serve as a starting point for the identification and resolution of traffic safety issues in the region.” The organization obtains data submitted by local law enforcement agencies to the Ohio Department of Public Safety over a three-year period.

The most-dangerous intersection in the report is in the city of Columbus, at Cleveland Avenue and Morse Road, with 210 total crashes during the reporting period.

In the Canal Winchester, Madison Township and Groveport areas, three intersections made the top 40 list with a few additional intersections identified as potential issues for further study. The three area intersections among the 40 most dangerous are: Gender and Refugee roads (14th); Frank Road at Winchester Pike (17th); and Gender Road at Winchester Pike (27th).

“No attempt is made to determine whether the crash is related to the engineering aspects of the intersection,” the MORPC report states. “It is simply intended to identify problem areas for further study.”

Canal Winchester Public Works Director Matt Peoples said the city’s investments in road upgrades, particularly along Gender Road, have had a significant impact in decreasing the number of accidents at some of the intersections.

“The Gender Road and Winchester Boulevard intersection is always our highest crash location. However, the improvements we did in 2011 made a significant impact on reducing the number of crashes, as you can see from the three-year crash and injury totals,” Peoples said.

Peoples provided data going back to 2006 for the intersection, showing an average of about 18 crashes per year between 2006 and 2011, at which point the Gender Road projects began and the average number of crashes dropped to about seven per year.

The city recently applied for an Ohio Public Works Commission grant to help fund the fourth phase of the Gender Road project, which is aimed at improving safety at the intersection of Gender and Groveport roads — one of the last Gender Road intersections still increasing in crashes, at four more than in previous years, according to the reports.

“Fortunately, there have been no fatalities at these intersections. Additionally, most of the injuries from the accidents are relatively minor compared to the volume of traffic, especially on Gender Road, which we measured at greater than 26,000 average vehicles daily north of Groveport Road,” Peoples said.

Groveport, which did not have any intersections in the top 40 list, keeps track of the information provided in the reports, and officials said they are pleased that for how heavily travelled state Route 317 is, the crash numbers are low and mostly due to drivers ignoring safety devices.

“All of the intersections are along the heavily traveled state Route 317 and all of them were either lower than in previous years or within one accident of the previous year,” Groveport Administrator Marsha Hall said.

In Madison Township, some accidents at the intersection of Ebright Road and Winchester Pike, including a 2013 crash resulting in a semitrailer igniting after striking a passenger vehicle, earned that intersection a place on the MORPC list, and prompted the Franklin County Engineer’s Office to begin a phased process of making the intersection safer.

“The Franklin County Engineer put a traffic light in this year, with turn lanes, which has helped out a lot with the flow of traffic and crashes,” Madison Township Police Chief Ken Braden said. “They’ll be doing additional work to widen the bridge lanes to further help traffic going eastbound in the near future, but we’re happy with the work that was able to be completed this year and which has reduced traffic crashes at the intersection.”

For the full report, along with other available safety data, visit morpc.org/transportation/safety/crash-data/index or call MORPC at 614-228-2663.

Area officials were quick to point out that these crashes almost always are preventable by being a safe and attentive driver.

“Most accidents can be avoided. We see vehicles turning on red lights, speeding, improper passing and trying to beat traffic lights,” Groveport Police Chief Ralph Portier said. “We don’t call those accidents but rather crashes, because most of them are avoidable.”