Drivers on state Route 608 headed toward the dangerous Chardon-Windsor Road intersection in Claridon Township will now see flashing message boards warning them of a new roadway configuration starting Sept. 9.
Drivers on state Route 608 headed toward the dangerous Chardon-Windsor Road intersection in Claridon Township will now see flashing message boards warning them of a new roadway configuration starting Sept. 9.
The Ohio Department of Transportation recently erected the boards, which say: “New roadway configuration – all-way stop to begin 9-9 at Chardon-Windsor.”
Isaac Hunt, public information officer for ODOT, said in a phone interview the boards, put up last week, will give drivers going north and south two weeks to get used to the idea of stopping at the intersection.
Previously, only east-west traffic on Chardon-Windsor Road had to stop at the intersection.
In case people going north and south are unaware of the change after two weeks, signs announcing the traffic pattern change will be put up ahead of the stop signs, Hunt added.
“ODOT has been studying this intersection for a while now,” he said, adding engineering and planning were in process. “Stuff like this takes time.”
Originally, ODOT had planned to erect the warning signs six-to-eight weeks from Aug. 10.
“They moved it up four weeks in reaction to the unfortunate incident there,” he said, referring to a two-vehicle rollover Aug. 16 at the intersection that killed Donny Grigsby Sr., 46, of Chardon.
Grigsby Sr. had been eastbound in a 1996 Chevrolet S10 on Chardon-Windsor Road, failed to yield at the stop sign and was struck by a northbound 2019 Ram 1500, according to law enforcement.
Back in May, Geauga County Engineer Andy Haupt met with ODOT officials, Chardon Fire Department Chief Justin Geiss and Claridon Township Trustees to set the wheels in motion for the Route 608 stop signs.
“ODOT has jurisdiction over 608. The county has jurisdiction over Chardon-Windsor,” Haupt said in a recent phone interview, adding they reviewed the accident numbers and discussed two options – a four-way stop or a round-about.
Shortly after the Aug. 16 accident, Haupt received an email saying ODOT decided to expedite a four-way stop, starting with the flashing boards to warn drivers, he said.
“There has to be a period of awareness. ODOT still has to follow protocol – not surprise people and cause more issues,” Haupt said. “We do everything we can to make the roads safe.”
Geauga County Commissioners discussed the accident with Haupt and Brian Blaney, ODOT District 12 director.
Commissioner Carolyn Brakey asked why the intersection is so dangerous.
Brian Blaney said ODOT screens rural intersections and there were warning signs on Route 608 indicating the upcoming intersection.
“It was on our radar,” he said, adding there is a notable crash history at that intersection. “We had a range of alternatives to reduce the crash problem.”
The week of Aug. 10, ODOT made the decision to go ahead with the reconfiguration and expected to have the new signs posted within eight weeks, he said.
“We’ll do it as quickly as we can,” Blaney said.
Brakey suggested signs reducing the speed limit on Route 608 as traffic approaches the north-south stop signs at Chardon-Windsor Road. Commissioner Jim Dvorak agreed a declining speed limit might be helpful.
Blaney said the plan is to post advance warning signs and Haupt said flags or warning signs will grab drivers’ attention.
Those who travel Route 608 regularly have to be retrained to anticipate the need to stop at the intersection, Haupt added.
Blaney said there has been success at several intersections using the warning process. He pointed to the intersection of state routes 528 and 166 in Montville Township, where stop signs were put in place on Route 528 and no crashes were reported there 12 months after the conversion.
