Trumbull County will be adding flashing lights to the stop signs at the intersection of Brookfield Avenue, Addison Road and Dutch Lane, and installing signs that alert motorists approaching the intersection that traffic westbound on Addison does not have to stop.
The moves follow a $32,000 study by Environmental Design Group of Akron that the Trumbull County Engineer’s Office funded through the County Engineers Association of Ohio.
EDG Senior Project Engineer Scott Cook said he looked at accident information over six years and found that there had been 16 crashes investigated by police. Most of the accidents were angle crashes and the predominant contributing factor was failing to yield. Two injuries were reported, and neither were serious.
“It’s a quick fix, easy to install, low cost,” Cook said of the recommendation to add lights and signs. “Trying to deal with the drivers themselves, we think that’s an effective method.”
“I think we’re gonna cut our accidents in half,” said Trumbull County Deputy Engineer Gary Shaffer.
Shaffer said he would come up with a cost estimate for the new signs and seek state grant funding.
Trustee Ron Haun said the study impetus was resident complaints about congestion – which ended up not being considered in the resulting safety study – and blind spots, particularly from motorists approaching the intersection from Dutch Lane.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to stop some of the issues we’ve been having,” he said.
