ANDERSON TOWNSHIP — A traffic safety program funded by the state, the township and private businesses has helped reduce the accident rate by 21 percent in four years along Beechmont Avenue, one of the heaviest traffic arteries in Hamilton County.

        The township has gone from having two of the county's top 10 crash sites to one since the program began in 1996. Accidents at the busy Beechmont Avenue-Five Mile road intersection declined from 53 in 1996 to 42 in 1999.

        Dottie Scott, traffic safety coordinator for Anderson Township, said several factors contributed to the decline in accidents:

CRASH SITES

Top Hamilton County intersection accident sites (1999)    (Anderson Township intersections in bold)    1. (tie) Race-Bridgetown-Glenway and Houston-Hamilton-Interestate 275 - 44    3. Beechmont and Five Mile - 42    4. Joseph-Colerain - 41    5. Winton Road-Galbraith Road - 38    6. Springdale-Colerain - 36    7. Kenwood-Montgomery - 35    8. Westbourne-Glenway - 32    9. Winton-Compton - 31    10. Ridge Road-Highland - 30    Top Hamilton County intersection accident sites (1996*)    1. Winton and Galbraith - 61    2. Beechmont and Five Mile Road - 53    3. Kenwood and Montgomery - 50    4. Race, Bridgetown and Glenway - 45    5. Ridge and Highland - 40    6. Springdale and Colerain - 39    7. Eight Mile and Beechmont - 38    8-Galbraith and Colerain - 36    9-Compton and Colerain - 30    10-Houston, Hamilton and I-275 - 27    * Year that Anderson Township started its traffic safety program.

        • Cutting down on the number of “curb cuts” entering and exiting the 3.5-mile Beechmont Avenue corridor - from Salem on the west to Cherry Grove Plaza on the east.

        • Adding traffic lights at Beechmont-Five Mile.

        • Installing larger street number signs.

        “But it is difficult to single out phases of the program and say which was most effective,” Mrs. Scott said. “It took the combined efforts of township trustees, the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce and business owners to promote educating the public to the problems, the law enforcement and the engineering work along Beechmont Avenue.”

        While crashes are down, county engineers said the traffic flow remains the same:

        • 60,000 vehicles moving through Five Mile Road and Beechmont Avenue each weekday.

        • 49,200 vehicles at Eight Mile Road and Beechmont.

        • 43.000 at Asbury and Beechmont.

        Before the safety program, crashes escalated and many residents didn't feel safe driving the Beechmont corridor.

        “I try to stay off (Beechmont Avenue) as much as I can,” said Greg Lammeier, who has lived in Anderson Township 47 years. “The traffic on Beechmont will surprise you whether it is 10 a.m. or 10 p.m. You can be driving along and before you know it, you are in a traffic jam.”

        Mr. Lammeier and Ray Gibson stood in the parking lot at Beechmont Mall last week, a block north of the Five Mile-Beechmont intersection, selling wreaths and garlands for the Turpin High School Booster Club.

        “We get a good look at the traffic flow,” said Mr. Gibson. “And we can see how the changes that were made have reduced traffic crashes.”

        Jan Sherbin, who lives on the western edge of Anderson Township, has noted a change in the traffic flow.

        “I think cutting down on the curb cuts, especially at the Cherry Grove Shopping Center, makes a big difference,” Mrs. Sherbin said. “You are able to get off Beechmont Avenue at one exit and go through several places and into the shopping center - now connected - without going back out on Beechmont Avenue.”

        Engineers installed 30 large street number signs along the Beechmont corridor. They allow motorists to quickly see what block they are in.

        The program was funded with $395,600 from the Ohio Department of Safety, Ohio Department of Transportation, the township and private businesses.
       
   

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