Sometime this fall, the Ohio Department of Transportation will upgrade some of the traffic signals at Warren Sharon Road and Route 7 in an attempt to alleviate traffic backups, said spokesman Brent Kovacs.
Brookfield Township officials said they believe the changes will make a significant improvement in traffic flow.
As the signals now work, eastbound and westbound motorists on Warren Sharon Road get a green light at the same time.
“When they do that, some (westbound) people that are turning left to go north on Route 7 pull up to turn and they have to wait for the other (eastbound) traffic to go through,” said township Road Superintendent Jaime Fredenburg. “The (eastbound) people behind them keep pulling into the intersection and pretty soon they’re blocking Route 7 going south and it kind of makes it a little cluster there.”
ODOT will install a five-light signal head for eastbound traffic, replacing the three-light head there now.
“If I’m traveling eastbound on Warren Sharon, and I come to the intersection, I’m gonna get a green light and an arrow, so I can either go straight through the intersection or I can make a left and go north on Route 7,” Fredenburg said. “Motorists coming west on old 82 still have a red light.”
The delay for westbound traffic will be “a short amount of time,” he said, but long enough that eastbound traffic looking to turn north on Route 7 should clear out and traffic should flow smoothly.
“ODOT also recommends shifting the existing signal heads for the eastbound and westbound approaches towards the signal poles to be aligned with each through lane,” Kovacs said. “This will coordinate with the current lane assignments and help reduce improper lane use approaching and through the intersection.”
Trumbull County also will add road arrows and directional hatch marks on the east side of the intersection on Warren Sharon Road to better prepare westbound motorists to enter the intersection, Fredenburg said.
ODOT presented several options and the county and township officials agreed that the work to be done was the best scenario, he said.
“The other good thing is this is the least expensive way,” Fredenburg said. “I think this will correct the problem down there.”

Update: ODOT finished installing the new signal heads the first week of August.