Planning Commission OKs Columbia Road widening
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published July 18, 2007

By a 5-0 vote, the Planning Commission Monday night unanimously approved the city’s proposal to widen a section of Columbia Road between Hilliard Boulevard and Center Ridge Road from two lanes to four lanes.

The Planning Commission gave its approval despite hearing from several residents who said they were opposed to the project.

The proposal now goes before City Council, which is expected to give its approval at its regular meeting tomorrow evening.

The state has awarded the city $1.5 million for the widening, an amount that is expected to cover 51 percent of the project, Mayor Dennis Clough said.

The city will have the responsibility of covering any cost overruns, he said.

City Hall received the contract for the state’s contribution to the project July 3 and has 45 days from that date to sign it, Clough told West Life.

In addition to widening the road, the project will include the installation of new water lines, new driveway aprons and improvements to storm sewer lines.

At Monday night’s Planning Commission meeting, Vern Long, a Columbia Road resident who unsuccessfully ran for the Ward 2 Council seat in 2005, told commission members that residents were opposed to the project.

“The residents don’t want four lanes,” Long said.

He said that he and his fellow residents are concerned that the widening will bring more traffic driving at higher speeds. This will create a safety hazard, he said.

Long urged that alternate measures be attempted, such as making the far right- hand lanes turning-only lanes at the intersections approaching the stretch of Columbia Road where the widening is planned. This, Long said, would help negate the “drag strip effect” caused when motorists race for the lead as two lanes merge into one.

Long and others allege the Clough administration is pushing the project through despite residents’ objection.

“The impetus for this project seems to be coming from City Hall, not from the residents,” Long said.

In April, Long presented City Council with a petition signed by 76 residents opposing the widening project.

Another Columbia Road resident, Dennis Petti, said he suspected the motivation for the project was political.

“This has been a done deal all the way down the line,” he said.

City Engineer Bob Kelly said the turning-only lanes idea would not address the traffic problems in the area. He said widening Columbia to four lanes between Hilliard and Center Ridge would make the area safer.

Planning Commission member John DesForges agreed.

“I think it’s a safety issue not to do the four lanes,” he told residents.

Clough also said traffic studies indicate the project will make the road safer.

“The better you move traffic, the safer the street,” he said.

The mayor said he hopes the residents will work with City Hall so that the project can move forward.

“I personally think everyone benefits,” he said of the project.

Part of the residents’ opposition stemmed from an earlier request by Clough that they donate to the city the land from their yards that they will lose from the widening. But the city has since backed away from that position.

Clough said the project was too important to debate over the issue of compensation.

“I think it’s a tremendous benefit not only to the entire community but also to the homeowners based on what’s included in the project,” Clough said.

The city has agreed to compensate homeowners at a rate of $4.01 per square foot they will lose in the widening, Kelly said.

Circumstances unique to a particular homeowner, such as landscaping issues, may cause the compensation paid to a homeowner to be more, Kelly said. Those issues will be resolved through negotiations, he noted.