Politics & Government

Think There's a Lot of Traffic in Strongsville?

You're right, there sure is -- check out these numbers

Does it ever seem like every driver in Strongsville and Brunswick is in front of you when you're trying to get through the Howe-Royalton area?

Almost. Figures show that a whopping 54,000 vehicles a day go through that intersection, many headed to I-71 or the shopping district.

Even more travel the Pearl-Royalton intersection -- more than 56,000 a day.

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Compare that to the intersection at Great Northern Mall at I-480, which only sees 36,000 vehicles a day. 

The mayor says the sheer volume of traffic makes it tricky to here. 

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City Council is expected tonight to look at various trouble spots.

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

But handling that number of vehicles isn't easy, said the mayor, who noted that Strongsville oversees 54 signalized intersections, which are tied together in four systems that have intricate timing mechanisms.

"It's more complex that it appears at first flush" to solve traffic problems, Perciak said. 

Some More Numbers

 Things have gotten better due to the widening of Pearl Road, traffic law enforcement and signal synchronization, Perciak said.

• Accidents have declined every year for the last four years, and accident injuries are down 19 percent since 2009.

• Delay time on Pearl Road between Center Middle School and Ellsworth Drive have gone from 3.3 minutes to 2.6 minutes.

• Average travel time in that stretch has gone from 7.68 minutes to 6.68 -- a full minute -- and the number of stops has been reduced from 4.8 to 2.6.

• Average speed in that area of Pearl has gone from 19.6 mph to 23.9 mph. All those factors have reduced fuel consumption an estimated 336 gallons a day for vehicles traveling that stretch.

Safety comes first in figuring out traffic patterns, followed by convenience for motorists and the cost of making the improvements, according to Perciak. 

"I can't make corrections just because it's a good idea," he said. "We have to make sure it's safe, and we have to have the money."


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