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By Holly Schoenstein
Special to the Beacon Journal
POSTED: 02:22 p.m. EDT, Jun 23, 2009
TALLMADGE: Plans for a $2.2 million traffic circle at one of the busiest and most accident-prone intersections in Tallmadge are now under way.
Construction to reshape the so-called Six Corners — where East Howe and North Munroe roads and Northeast Avenue meet — could start as early as March and should be finished by next fall.
Tallmadge Community Development Manager Pat Sauner said the roundabout is expected to be half the size of the Tallmadge Circle and accommodate up to two lanes of traffic.
The landscaped area in the center of the circle will be 125 square feet.
Traffic counts find about 17,500 vehicles traverse the intersection each day.
Since three busy roads all meet at the intersection, Sauner said, the wait time for the existing light can seem lengthy.
''What [this] does is it eliminates the traffic signalization and keeps traffic going,'' he said.
The project is being billed as environmentally friendly because it should reduce the idling time for motorists waiting since there will no longer be a traffic light.
''The traffic pattern also is expected to decrease the potential for severe accidents,'' he said.
The city notes there have been 21 traffic accidents over the last three years at Six Corners.
State grants and stimulus funds will cover $1.8 million of the construction cost with Tallmadge picking up $440,000.
City Council voted earlier this month to hire the Akron branch of San Francisco-based URS Corp. to begin work on land appraisals and negotiate the acquisition of properties for a roundabout.
Mayor Christopher Grimm said he wants to move the project along so bids can be sought as early as December.
The city needs to acquire about 3.2 acres of land owned by a handful of property owners. Letters are to be sent out to affected property owners this week.
City officials say the intersection will have to be closed for about 30 days once construction begins. It will remain open to motorists for the remainder of the work.
The first modern roundabout in Northeast Ohio was built in 2006 in Copley Township following a traffic fatality at the intersection of South Hametown and Ridgewood roads. Another roundabout is now under construction in Green.
TALLMADGE: Plans for a $2.2 million traffic circle at one of the busiest and most accident-prone intersections in Tallmadge are now under way.
Construction to reshape the so-called Six Corners — where East Howe and North Munroe roads and Northeast Avenue meet — could start as early as March and should be finished by next fall.
Tallmadge Community Development Manager Pat Sauner said the roundabout is expected to be half the size of the Tallmadge Circle and accommodate up to two lanes of traffic.
The landscaped area in the center of the circle will be 125 square feet.
Traffic counts find about 17,500 vehicles traverse the intersection each day.
Since three busy roads all meet at the intersection, Sauner said, the wait time for the existing light can seem lengthy.
''What [this] does is it eliminates the traffic signalization and keeps traffic going,'' he said.
The project is being billed as environmentally friendly because it should reduce the idling time for motorists waiting since there will no longer be a traffic light.
''The traffic pattern also is expected to decrease the potential for severe accidents,'' he said.
The city notes there have been 21 traffic accidents over the last three years at Six Corners.
State grants and stimulus funds will cover $1.8 million of the construction cost with Tallmadge picking up $440,000.
City Council voted earlier this month to hire the Akron branch of San Francisco-based URS Corp. to begin work on land appraisals and negotiate the acquisition of properties for a roundabout.
Mayor Christopher Grimm said he wants to move the project along so bids can be sought as early as December.
The city needs to acquire about 3.2 acres of land owned by a handful of property owners. Letters are to be sent out to affected property owners this week.
City officials say the intersection will have to be closed for about 30 days once construction begins. It will remain open to motorists for the remainder of the work.
The first modern roundabout in Northeast Ohio was built in 2006 in Copley Township following a traffic fatality at the intersection of South Hametown and Ridgewood roads. Another roundabout is now under construction in Green.
Comments
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Akron, OH
Posted 02:29 PM, 06/23/2009
Good, more "should I go?" indecision. Sometimes, I feel like pulling up a chair and watching the show that is people trying to figure out how to navigate a traffic circle.
Akron, Oh
Posted 02:56 PM, 06/23/2009
It's better than the "oh, close call!" you see all the time there. I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit there.
Akron, Oh
Posted 03:01 PM, 06/23/2009
What has happened for the plans for a round-a-bout at Smith & Riverview Rds?
Ravenna, OH
Posted 03:35 PM, 06/23/2009
This is exactly why the citizens should never ever pass another school levy. Let the city give it to the school. Recall Grim next!
Akron, Oh
Posted 03:45 PM, 06/23/2009
@Not: You're a tad testy today?
Newton Falls, Oh
Posted 04:04 PM, 06/23/2009
I have lived in Tallmadge for a decade, and I think this is a monumentally stupid idea. If I could, I would relocate the two old buildings in the center of Tallmadge Circle, and doze the circle. Every city in the United States has intersections and deals with it. Why can't Tallmadge? The circles are frustrating, and they aren't as cute as the rest of the city thinks. The only person that likes them are my British buddies that come to visit, and that is just nostalgia for them. How much land will Tallmadge be taking from the people that live there? Dumb
Posted 04:13 PM, 06/23/2009
look kids big ben, look kids big ben
Paradise, Oh
Posted 04:17 PM, 06/23/2009
I like to sit at that light for the few moments it takes. It is pretty at that intersection.
Everything changes.
Tepplin, DC
Posted 04:22 PM, 06/23/2009
Personally, I think they could use one at Six Corners in Goodyear Heights. Or better yet, just remake all of the "Six Corners" around the Circle into mini-roundabouts.
Brimfield, OH
Posted 04:28 PM, 06/23/2009
What about the #ucked-up intersection of Brittain-Northwest-Howe-Bailey-Tallmadge. Who ever designed that light needs shot. Each direction gets it's own light except Northwest and Tallmadge, they go at the same time.
Columbus, OH
Posted 05:13 PM, 06/23/2009
Big Ben...Parliment...Big Ben....Parliment, soooo stupid, get with the times, keep the traffic lights. Maybe Tallmadge can pass a city ordinance to have horse hithcing posts at all local storess too.
Posted 05:13 PM, 06/23/2009
Thought Tallmadge was hurting for money? Do they plan to pay for this mini-circle with the increased plot fees at Tallmadge Cemetery? Seems to me Tallmadge's mayor is the one that needs to be recalled. What do you say OMG?
Akron, OH
Posted 06:18 PM, 06/23/2009
This is just plain stupid. Noone seems to know how to navigate the one circle Tallmadge already has.
akron, oh
Posted 06:44 PM, 06/23/2009
Add a few more circles and OMG will never be able to leave the city. Moo HA HA HA (evil laugh)
Posted 07:17 PM, 06/23/2009
what you naysayers dont get is that the cirlce in the center of tallmadge is NOT a roundabout. It is not designed to do what the modern roundabouts do. Plus it has 8 ins/outs versus the 4-6 that most roundabouts have. In UK and Europe they still build them, and at interstate hwy intersections too so there is never a wait for a light to change. Proven by countless studies to be safe that a busy signalized intersection. never have the biggest intersection dangers..cars running yellow/red lights and left turning vehicles.
cuyahoga falls, OH
Posted 08:02 PM, 06/23/2009
I don't know if that is a good idea but I'll tell you one thing thank God they are doing something
akron, oh
Posted 08:50 PM, 06/23/2009
How stupid!!! another crazy traffic circle.
I avoind the current traffic circle...and most do. I am sure business suffer in that area.
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 09:26 PM, 06/23/2009
Dumbest idea I ever heard. What a waste of taxpayer dollars this will be. Now Tallmadge will have the #1 & #2 most accident intersections in the county. Disappointed in the Grimm Reaper I am.
Akron, OH
Posted 02:31 AM, 06/24/2009
And the wheels on the bus go round and round . . . round and round . . . round and round.
Call the newly un-recalled Donny boy and get some solid advice!
Posted 07:35 AM, 06/24/2009
''What [this] does is it eliminates the traffic signalization and keeps traffic going,''
Dude have you ever been at Tallmadge circle at rush hour?? The traffic lines are 3 miles long!
Akron, OH
Posted 08:10 AM, 06/24/2009
I don't know what the hub-bub is about. A roundabout is a modern name for a circle.
I think Grimmy should have sprung for over and under passes and ended the debate altogether.
Akron, Oh
Posted 08:36 AM, 06/24/2009
If people could use their turn signals and the morons entering the circle could step on the gas peddal (skinny one on the right) and merge into the circle all would be fine. Instead lets wait till I get an invitation to step on it!!
Its the same people that get on the expressway and stop at the end of the on ramp!
Akron, OH
Posted 08:37 AM, 06/24/2009
Boo hoo! Go back to traffic school and they can teach you how to drive in a circle.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:54 AM, 06/24/2009
Whether you keep the lights or put in a circle, it'll still be a mess at that intersection... which is bound to happen when you have that many roads crossing each other at once. Just saying.
Mansfield, OH
Posted 08:55 AM, 06/24/2009
@bams67 - that's exactly right. I grew up in Tallmadge, and you can tell which people know what the heck they're doing on the circle immediately. I know two people who completely avoid it because they can't understand how to merge, get on the inside of the circle and use your turn signal when you reach the road you're looking for.
Akron, OH
Posted 09:17 AM, 06/24/2009
Aren't there more important things to spend money on?
Posted 09:31 AM, 06/24/2009
Big Ben
Posted 09:33 AM, 06/24/2009
If people can't navigate a traffic light, how can they figure out a circle? I grew up just down the road befor they had lights there and there wasn't 1/4 the wrecks. And don't tell me there is more traffic there, at least not 4 times as much.
akron, oh
Posted 10:03 AM, 06/24/2009
look kids big ben, look kids big ben
Big Ben...Parliment...Big Ben....Parliment,
Sooooo funny. Way to put a positive spin on what a pain this will be!! Traffic circles are fine, it's just the people who don't know how to drive them!
AKRON, OH
Posted 10:08 AM, 06/24/2009
Thank you bams67, I have driven the circle for, lets say many years, and the only problem I have with it are the people who don't know how to drive.
Posted 10:24 AM, 06/24/2009
"Dumbest idea I ever heard. What a waste of taxpayer dollars this will be."
Then this must be a very good idea. And you sir, are the waster of taxpayer dollars. Hence, the recall you just wasted my money on. Shame on you for accusing others of doing what it is you do !
Akron, OH
Posted 11:23 AM, 06/24/2009
Hey Scott - the 3 mile lines are because the oafs at the point of entry (right in front of the YIELD signs - not STOP signs) are scared $hitless to enter the circle. They're the same clowns who enter freeways and merge into traffic going 40 mph - BMV needs to run their driving test through the Circle. If they fail to merge successfully and timely, they should flunk that driving test!
Ravenna, OH
Posted 11:59 AM, 06/24/2009
cruisemaster, Not testy at all. This is another example of government wasting money. They will spend $2 million on this and then ask the taxpayers to cough up more money for their schools.
WADSWORTH, OH
Posted 12:29 PM, 06/24/2009
just learn how to drive
or 'relearn' how to
put the cell down and pay attention
dont look at your gurlyfriend while driving
dont chew gum-talk on cell-and smoke-and drive at the same time=LOSERS
Akron, OH
Posted 12:36 PM, 06/24/2009
I'm not really sure how this is suppose to "improve" anything. The intersection is NOT that bad if you're paying attention and have a brain.
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 12:47 PM, 06/24/2009
If people drove the circle like intended (going to the center & signalling when getting over) we'd have hundreds more accidents. Idiots go around there at 40 MPH so you have to jump in when you can. What a waste of $. It's nonsense that $ allocated for a specific department has to be spent within that dept only. This law needs to be changed. We should be able to take that $ & put it toward the schools. Robbing Peter to pay Paul in this instance sounds pretty good to me. But no, lets spend $400,000 on an intersection that has been fine for over 100 yrs & will probably be fine for another 100 !!!!!!!! 7 accidents a year... that's less than 1 a month. I'd like to know the severity of these accidents. Fender benders?
Cuyahoga Falls, Oh
Posted 02:14 PM, 06/24/2009
The landscaped area in the center of the circle will be 125 square feet.
Ya so the drunks coming out of Kent every night can plow though it when they come over the hill and don't stop in time. Just like they do at the big circle. Gonna be fillin out lots more crash reports...
Akron, Oh
Posted 02:56 PM, 06/24/2009
WOW, do you guys think its really that hard to drive in a circle??? Every time someone trys to come up with a solution to a problem, all you do is groan and criticize. How about you come up with an answer, 'cause I am sick of sitting at that dang light for so long!
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Posted 04:20 PM, 06/24/2009
I grew up in Tallmadge and one of the first things I was taught in driver's ed was how to drive the circle. Unfortunately, only Tallmadge students were taught this ( and that was over 30 years ago).
If it were mandatory for anyone in the tri-county area to be taught the proper way to manuever on the circle we would have no problem. As for the new round-about. It sounds like a magnifcent idea to me.
Kent, oh
Posted 04:44 PM, 06/24/2009
I drive Tallmadge Circle everyday and it looks like I will be driving the new circle everyday as well. The problem with the circle isn't the circle, it's the idiot drivers who either think that the object is to not let ANYONE ELSE ON or try to pass on the right...and those who are afraid to get on at all and sit there forever waiting for the perfect moment to merge. There are a lot of people who just do not know how to drive and are not at all interested in learning.
Akron, OH
Posted 12:10 AM, 06/25/2009
====================
-BLANK- posted:
If people can't navigate a traffic light, how can they figure out a circle?
====================
BINGO!
This is just another governmental "make work" or "look at me" (waste more taxpayer $$$) project.
Leura, NSW
Posted 02:38 AM, 06/25/2009
I think I can help here, and I have identified the reason for your dilemma and continuing problems with driving,accidents and traffic confusion, (as observed during my most recent visit to your town).
You guys all drive on the wrong side of the road. Just come to Australia and you will see the correct direction to navigate a circle/roundabout.
Dont get me started on how your drivers seat is on the wrong side as well,and you call it "gas" instead of "petrol".
Akron, OH
Posted 08:52 AM, 06/25/2009
No, no, no...I have it all figured out now everyone. See today's article about the distracting chickens dancing around Tallmadge Circle. It's not stupid drivers...it's dancing chickens!
AKRON, ohio
Posted 10:44 AM, 06/25/2009
If Old Grumpy Woman is against this idea it must be the best thing to ever happen. OLD FOOL.
Mansfield, OH
Posted 11:36 AM, 06/25/2009
ccfp - is there really so little going on in Australia that you're commenting on a roundabout in Tallmadge, OH. Go chug a warm Foster's. Oh yeah, RIP Steve Irwin. Crikey!
Ravenna, OH
Posted 11:57 AM, 06/25/2009
Didn't they just cut $500,000 from their budget? Did the moronic mayor win the lottery to have $2 million to p#ss away? You could build a new stadium for ALOT less money and stop your city from looking so stupid from the fact they built a new HS without a stadium
WADSWORTH, OH
Posted 12:42 PM, 06/25/2009
Stunner=sounds like shes a bit DOWN UNDER !! LMAO
NE, Oh
Posted 01:16 PM, 06/25/2009
Look kids Parliment! There's nothing wrong with a regular intersection, beef it up if it needs more whatever...another circle isn't warranted.
Agree with CodeMonkey...that mess at the 6points is what can use modification. I have to use is everyday and it SUCKS
Leura, NSW
Posted 04:09 AM, 06/29/2009
Sorry JCUSTUNNER, we export Fosters for poor fools overseas to drink. Warm, cold, it still tastes like dishwater. As for belittling the interest in Tallmadge. Dont you know that the circle is like mecca. Havent you seen countless hordes of mumbling worshipers travelling round and round in an endless circle of supplication?.
Shame on you to think that small town USA doesnt resonate around the world. Others may worry about climate change, oppression, fanatic regimes, global financial crises, bail-outs etc, and miss the real matters of significance, like roundabouts, dancing chickens, and the like.
Its like your TSA officials who looked at me with a wary and quizzical eye and asked "why do you want to go to Tallmadge, whats there that could possibly interest you from Australia".
If your own people cant sell an area to tourists, what hope have you got.
Anyway, if you are concerned with us in Oz, we are busily cloning an army of Steve Irwins (and the more fearsone Terri Irwin), to unleash on an unsuspecting world. Crikey indeed!!!
Akron, OH
Posted 11:39 AM, 08/20/2009
The author of this article made a colossal error. She said: "Six Corners — where East Howe and North Munroe roads and Northeast Avenue meet"
That's not Six Corners. That's a few miles East of Six Corners.
