Strongsville Seeking Grant to Fix Traffic Snarls at I-71

The city is asking the Ohio Department of Transportation for $5 million to improve traffic flow in the Royalton Road-Interchange 71 area.

City Council last week authorized the city to seek a grant from the Highway Safety Program.

City Engineer Ken Mikula said Strongsville has already asked ODOT to look into ways to make the Royalton-I-71 area safer and easier to drive through.

With several improvements now in the planning stages the money would go toward engineering and construction, he said.

"We're piecing them all together to try to make a difference up there," Mikula said.

Royalton Road is the city's accident hotspot, according to the police department, and is also a source of complaints from motorists.

Some steps have already been taken. Last year, the city lengthened the left-turn lane for eastbound Royalton Road traffic trying to turn into the Plaza at SouthPark.

The plaza's developers also last year added an access road that runs behind Rosewood Grill to the Borders Plaza, giving drivers a way to get in and out of the Plaza and SouthPark without going through the traffic signal at the driveway, across from Howe Road.

The city has hired an engineering firm to design improvements to the Shurmer-Howe roads intersection, where commuter traffic often backs up.

And officials here asked ODOT study the I-71 area for possible solutions to traffic back-ups and accidents.