Mayor Puts the Brakes on Promise to Fix Traffic Woes

A promise by a city councilman to look into traffic flow problems in Strongsville has elicited an outpouring of suggestions -- and a caution from the mayor that most will not be fixed quickly.

Mayor Tom Perciak said officials are already aware of the places traffic snarls, and would correct them if they could.

"We do know where our bottlenecks are, and we do know where we have issues," Perciak said.

Dozens of Strongsville Patch readers sent in their traffic peeves two weeks ago after Councilman at large Joe DeMio said he wanted to identify the problem areas and look at remedies.

Others called City Hall or their councilman. So many people responded, in fact, that DeMio has pushed back a meeting to discuss them until March 5.

But Mayor Tom Perciak, who was out of town when DeMio raised the issue Feb. 6, said the councilman may have jumped the gun on promising to fix problems.

Here's why:

1. Efficiency on the streets is a big thing, but safety is bigger. Doing things like removing "no turn on red" signs would speed traffic, but lead to more accidents.

2. It's a complex, synchronized traffic signal system. "Tinkering with one area affects all the others," the mayor said.

3. Cost. It took $1.3 million to widen the Drake-Howe intersection, $400,000 for Howe-Boston and $50,000 to regulate traffic at Prospect and Boston. "We are doing our very best with the resources we have," Perciak said.

Still, DeMio said some minor issues could be tackled -- for example, some residents asked for a dotted line to be painted on the road at Prospect Road and Route 82 so the two lanes turning left don't accidently veer into each other. 

Among the traffic woes most commonly mentioned by Strongsville Patch readers:

• Trying to turn left onto Route 82 when headed north on Pearl Road. The arrow is only long enough for a few cars.

• The left turn lane into the Plaza at SouthPark isn't long enough.

• The northern-most driveway into Westfield SouthPark from Howe Road needs a left-turn signal.

• Turning left from Shurmer onto Howe can take five minutes.

• Trying to get onto I-71 north in the mornings. People from the left lane are always cutting in.

• Gridlock at Pearl and Westwood when drivers stop in the intersection for a red light at Pearl and Route 82. 

Council President Mike Daymut had a suggestion for frustrated drivers in the meantime. 

"I think we should ask the public to be a little more patient with each other," Daymut said.