MANSFIELD — The “road closed” signs were barely taken down at a new roundabout Thursday morning and Richland County Engineer Adam Gove was alerting county commissioners to the possibility of a second.
The next site may be the intersection of Home Road and Lexington-Springmill Road, the location of a fatal crash a couple of weeks ago, according to Gove.
“We are applying for state (grant) funds to move forward with an improvement at that intersection,” Gove told commissioners. “I am not saying it’s going to be a roundabout, but we do need to improve that intersection.”
Gove, who told commissioners the roundabout at Cook/Illinois Road and Mansfield-Lucas Road opened smoothly, said the fatal wreck at Home and Lexington-Springmill was the first on a county-maintained road in 2022.
“There’s at least six to 10 accidents a year there for the last three years. I am not sure why people (don’t stop),” Gove said.
The engineer said crews were actually looking at the intersection a week before the fatal crash.
Part of that work included a speed camera and Gove noted people traveling on Lexington-Springmill Road were consistently traveling “in the 60s” on the road, which has speed limits of 40 to 50 mph.
“A lot of it happens from people entering Lex-Springmill off of Home Road. They have to come to a stop and turn left or right onto Lex-Springmill … there is no through there.
“While we were out at the actual physical site, two people went past the stop sign on Home Road, across into Lex-Springmill. (They) stopped before they hit the guardrail that’s across the road from them, backed up up and continued on their way,” Gove said.
He said the intersection improvement effort could include relocating a section of the B&O Bike Trail that crosses Lexington-Springmill there. He described a “three-legged roundabout” as a potential solution.
Gove said the county must submit its grant application by the beginning of September and may learn an answer by October or November.
In that same area, the engineer told commissioners in May his office had been awarded a $1.4 million state grant for “roadway departure” projects that will allow Richland County to widen the shoulder along both sides of a 1.42-mile stretch of Lexington-Springmill Road.
Gove said the local effort will be from Home Road on the south end and run north to Marion Avenue Road.
The engineer told commissioners he was at the Cook/Illinois and Mansfield-Lucas roads roundabout earlier Thursday morning and the “road closed” signs had been removed.
“There is still some minor work that needs to be done, so the contractor will be out at the site here and there for the next couple of days. So the ‘road work ahead’ warning signs will remain,” Gove said.
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation Federal Highway Administration website points out that roundabouts “are a proven safety countermeasure because they can substantially reduce crashes that result in serious injury or death.”
This roundabout is the second in Richland County. The only other one was constructed in 2012 by the City of Mansfield at the intersection of Middle-Bellville and Straub roads at a cost of $500,000.
The roundabout at Cook/Illinois and Mansfield-Lucas roads will cost around $1.7 million with 90 percent funded through state grants, according to Gove. The local cost will be between $170,000 and $180,000, he said.
It’s larger than the one at Middle-Bellville and Straub roads.
“It was designed to handle (school) buses and semis,” Gove said. “We know there is semi traffic in that areas for the industries along Illinois Avenue. During construction, we’ve had some of our own trucks go through there and had no issues getting through.”
Also on Thursday, commissioners:
— approved Gove’s request to purchase a 2012 Ford F550 bucket truck from the Ohio Dept. of Transportation at a cost of $12,011. He said his department has been without such a vehicle for the past several years and has had to rely on contractors for tree trimming along county roads. The truck has 223,000 miles on it, but Gove said it’s in good shape.
— approved a request from Dayspring Executive Director Michelle Swank to spend $32,600 to replace the waterline, electrical conduit and wiring from the pump in the facility’s well house to the basement in main building. The work will be done by Jamison Well Drilling and Pump Service and will be funded through Dayspring’s cash reserves. Swank said the current wiring system was failing, resulting in an intermittent loss of water to the county home.
— approved a request from the county IT department to contract for internet backup services with Lumen in the courthouse, the Board of Elections in the Longview building and the sheriff’s department inside the Peoples Community Center. The cost will be $9,324 annually on a three-year contract.
