Wednesday, June 14, 2000
Fixing roads' danger spots can be challenge
Reconfiguring may help, but cost, other factors key
By Tom O'Neill
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Reconfiguring dangerous roads to prevent the kind of tragedy that struck Delhi Township recently involves a delicate balance of factors — from crash frequency and severity to traffic counts and drivers' conduct.
And ultimately, money.
The typical trouble spot, sources in the local engineer department say, is a narrow, hilly road in a once-outlying area now burgeoning with new growth and young drivers. They include Kirchling Road in Butler County's Ross Township, McClure Road in Butler County's Turtlecreek Township, and Delhi's Hillside Avenue.
All have seen one-vehicle fatal accidents in the past year.
The toll: six dead teens.
“What do you tell parents?” Hamilton County chief deputy engineer Ted Hubbard said Tuesday. “God, I'm a parent. I can understand it.”
On Kirchling, one factor was “launching” or “ramping,” the practice of drivers — typically teens — speeding over hills to become airborne. It also is common on McClure, residents say. The cause of the Delhi crash remains under investigation. The driver is 16.
Pat Campbell, 49, has lived on or near Hillside Avenue all her life and recalls launching as a common occurrence going back to her youth.
“It's called the Hump,” Ms. Campbell said Tuesday, one day after she called the Hamilton County engineer's office to complain.
“Why isn't anyone hitting on the real truth here?” she said. “We know kids are going to speed, but if the hump isn't there, they're not going to do this. This is one little spot, and even going back to when I was a kid, it has taken so many lives.”
Mr. Hubbard said a review of the Hillside Avenue file shows no written complaints but that “Hillside is one road that has an abrupt profile, extremely hilly.”
There has been no study or extensive work beyond regular maintenance there, though Mr. Hubbard said that could change pending results of the police investigation.
“Even if she hadn't called, we'd investigate anyway because it's a fatality,” Mr. Hubbard said. “We're pulling records on that, to see if we can detect how the road contributed. Removal of the hump might help, or might not help.”
Mr. Hubbard and Mr. Petrocy said driver conduct is always a factor, and removing a hump might not be feasible.
“Some (roads) as recently as 10 years ago were carrying farm traffic, combines and things like that,” said Butler County engineer's department spokesman Chris Petrocy. “Now you have subdivisions.”
Then there's cost, which for hump removal could range from $100,000 to $1 million. State grants are available, but the process is arduous and guarantees nothing.
The $800,000 price tag for upcoming reconstruction at Harrison Pike and Rybolt Road in Green Township, for instance, was split between the Ohio Public Utilities Commission ($560,000) and the county engineer's office ($240,000).
In the end, the cost of reconfiguring a road is always compared with the cost of not doing it.
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