A study of the traffic signals Trumbull County owns has recommended the removal of the traffic light on Warren Sharon Road where it intersects with Brookfield Avenue and Yankee Run Road. Instead, stop signs would be posted on each corner, according to a letter posted on the Trumbull County Engineer’s website.
“I have a concern, as a resident,” said Brookfield Trustee Dan Suttles. So do other residents, who posted negative comments on the township’s Facebook post about the proposal.
The study also recommends replacing the light at Warren Sharon and Bedford Road with an LED model. The signal also will have a radar device to detect when vehicles are present and better manage the signals, said Trumbull County Deputy Engineer Gary Shaffer.
Suttles said he received the letter March 2 and followed it up with a phone conversation with Shaffer.
“He (Shaffer) said to me he thought it was a safer intersection with four-way stop signs that are flashing,” Suttles said.
The intersection should be safer with stop signs because vehicles will be moving much slower as they move into the crossroads, Shaffer said. You won’t have “serious accidents” where vehicles are moving at full speed, he said.
The letter calls the light at Warren Sharon/Yankee Run/Brookfield “unwarranted.” The National Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which is published by the Federal Highway Administration and has been adopted by Ohio, said factors such as number of vehicles, the types of vehicles using the road, whether pedestrians frequent the intersection and their ages, the posted speed limit, crash history and the physical layout, which can include grade, position of utility poles, nearby land use, driveways and site distance, determine whether a traffic light is warranted.
Shaffer said the Warren Sharon/Yankee Run/Brookfield intersection meets none of the warrants. Unless a traffic signal is warranted, the county cannot use federal money to replace or add a traffic signal. A federal grant funded the study, conducted by Burgess and Niple of Akron, and is paying for the subsequent construction costs.
“I’d like to see the traffic numbers,” township Road Supt. Jaime Fredenburg said, referring to the number of vehicles a day that pass through the intersection. Township officials said they found it hard to believe that intersection gets less traffic than the one at Warren Sharon and Bedford; Shaffer said that’s what the study showed.
Suttles said he was worried about the site distance for drivers heading north on Brookfield Avenue and wanting to turn east onto Warren Sharon Road. Fredenburg added that starting from a dead stop to climb the Warren Sharon hill might be difficult in some weather conditions.
Police Chief Aaron Kasiewicz and Fire Chief David Masirovits also expressed concern, Suttles said.
The county has set a period for members of the public to comment on the proposed changes; that period closes April 1. The county’s letter said comments can “include, but are not limited to, the effect of the project on residents, the local economy, historic or cultural resources, etc.”
Suttles said he has comment forms available at the administration building, 6844 Strimbu Drive, and has posted them in the Brookfield Township app and on its website for people to download. He said he is willing to deliver them to the engineer’s office. The township will prepare a response, Suttles said.
Forms also can be downloaded from the county engineer’s website and are available at EZ Stop, 354 Bedford Road, Brookfield. While Shaffer said he is aware he is getting “beat up” by comments on Facebook, only written comments submitted to the engineer’s office will be considered, and it is the intent of the engineer’s office to respond to each one.
“I asked him (Shaffer), ‘What’s the odds we can get this turned around?’ The odds weren’t good,” Suttles said.
But Shaffer said comments can have an impact on a proposal.
The study also looked at intersections in Howland, Bazetta, Warren and Weathersfield, and recommended upgrades to six signals and the removal of five others, according to the letter.
For whatever is decided, construction will commence the summer of 2027 for completion in the fall of 2028.
