Police target Clague Road construction area
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published March 15, 2006

City officials are hoping a stronger police presence will put a Stop to the many motorists speeding through the construction recently begun in the Clague Road area.

Police Chief George Ruple said Monday officers from the department’s Stop traffic program, which places officers working traffic duty at specific locations with potential safety and traffic issues, will be at the area issuing citations for driving violations. Prior to that, officers had been directing people away from the area or warning people who were coming through the construction area or speeding down side streets such as Esther Avenue to get through the area. This prompted a group of about 20 residents of the area to complain to Ward 2 Councilman Paul Barker about the situation as well as lodge several verbal complaints at the March 7 city council meeting about the problems with motorists. The affected area is Barker’s ward.

Ruple said the officers will be issuing citations for various problems.

“People don’t want to be rolling through a stop sign, speeding or running through the construction area because they will be ticketed,” Ruple said. “People have got to realize they can’t just go driving fast through the area because they want to get out faster.”

Barker said he’s pleased by the action.

“Something like that is what we needed for that area,” Barker said. “It’s become a source of great frustration for the people in that area and on streets where they go speeding down to try and get through those areas faster. They have to realize people live in those areas and have to be able to conduct their lives and get in and out of their homes as well.”

Debbie Kessel, one of the Esther Avenue residents who spoke at Tuesday’s council meeting, also was pleased when informed Monday of the increased police presence.

“It’s a great move; it made my day,” she said. “Hopefully it will stop a lot of these people from just driving fast through that area and causing problems for the residents and children in the area.”

Kessel lauded Barker and his work in recent days in trying to deal with the problem.

“He’s been out here a lot with the residents and trying to see the best way we could try and stop all the problems,” she said.

Barker and the residents kept traffic counts of the vehicles coming through the area and noted hundreds of vehicles coming out of the I-480 and Clague Road area. Kessel also allowed the police department to place in her yard one of the speed sign wagons which shows passing motorists their speed going through an area.

Barker said the speeding motorists also seemed to respond to any type of perceived police presence in the area.

“When I was seated there in my vehicle a lot of the vehicles slowed down when they saw my vehicle because they thought it might be a police officer,” Barker said.

Mayor Thomas O’Grady told the council audience Tuesday the city would continue efforts to work on the problem. He reiterated later in the week the need for the city to curb the motorists speeding through and provide a safer environment for the residents while the Clague Road construction is going on for the next several months.

“We will take appropriate measures to ensure that the area is taken care of and the residents have what they need,” O’Grady said. “This construction has been sought for some time and we want to see it completed with a minimum of problems.”

Barker had considered trying to place barricades in the area to try and stop the vehicles cutting through the area. However, city school officials indicated it would cause problems for school buses, and a check by O’Grady with Fairview Park Mayor Eileen Patton indicated it would cause problems with the neighboring city.

“Realizing from our own experience the impact these projects have on local residents, I am puzzled by what this closure will accomplish,” Patton said in a letter to O’Grady that was read at the council meeting. “Barricading Esther where the two cities meet could result in  more traffic on the North Olmsted side due to vehicles having to turn around in driveways once they realize the street has been barricaded. If your council chooses to barricade the street, have they looked at the closure being at the intersection of Clague Road versus halfway through a neighborhood residential street?”

Both O’Grady and Patton in her letter cited the fact that when the traffic becomes southbound only on Clague a short time from now, the pattern will change.

“It should be reduced after that and the barricade really isn’t necessary,” O’Grady said. “I applaud Councilman Barker’s work on the project and my administration will continue to work with him and the residents on this.”

Barker said he considered the barricade only through the best of intentions.

“We were looking at all options to find solutions to the problems residents are experiencing,” Barker said. “After hearing from the schools, we realize that might not be the best way.”

Some of the residents at the meeting advocated asking Patton to open up nearby connecting streets to two-way traffic. O’Grady said Patton rejected that possibility in a meeting.

Patton said Monday her decision is for safety considerations and the nature of the roadways in her city leading to Clague.

“Those are residential neighborhoods, and it just wouldn’t be a good move to open them up to the two-way traffic,” Patton said. “I understand the North Olmsted residents’ concerns, but it wouldn’t be practical. Right now that project is an inconvenience, but in a few months they’re going to have a better and safer roadway.”

Barker said he intends to continue to seek the best solutions for the area and would like the issue discussed at a joint council streets and safety committees meeting.