The heavily traveled Massillon Road corridor (SR 241) is the central transportation artery in the City of Green, Ohio, and an important connection to the city’s downtown area. After growing to become Summit County’s fourth largest city, the two-lane road could no longer accommodate the current traffic volume of 16,000 vehicles per day and would not meet the projected capacity needs. These concerns, along with the lack of pedestrian or bicycle facilities and urban aesthetics, led the City of Green leaders to seek out a better solution for the corridor that would meet their community’s mobility needs and support their vision for the corridor.
To improve current and future mobility and safety within the corridor, the City contracted with B&N to perform a corridor planning study. This included the intersections of Raber Road and East Turkeyfoot Lake Road (SR 619), which were determined to be nearing capacity and not adequate for future traffic projections. It was also found that left turns out of the many driveways located along Massillon Road were difficult to maneuver and contributed to the high number of left-turn and rear-end crashes along the corridor. The study also accounted for the lack of appropriate facilities to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists.
B&N developed and facilitated a planning process, performed technical analysis on current conditions and alternatives and led a public and stakeholder involvement process that included three public meetings, website engagement, small group meetings with key stakeholders and multiple City Council work sessions. Three roundabouts were selected to be part of the design and were the key to the transfiguration of the character, safety, and operation of this central corridor in the City of Green. The implementation of roundabouts and corridor-wide access management with a continuous median was a concern for some stakeholders. B&N utilized graphics and videos to illustrate the benefits of the proposed corridor operation to gain public buy-in.
Following the study, B&N redesigned the one-half mile stretch of Massillon Road to become a four-lane road with three multi-lane roundabouts, bike and pedestrian accommodations and access management throughout the corridor.
Today, the improved Massillon Road is functioning as planned with noted reductions in travel times throughout the corridor, accommodating nearly twice its previous traffic load. This redesign transformed a congested, difficult to access and unattractive two-lane road with a high crash occurrence into a corridor that is highly attractive, bicycle and pedestrian friendly, efficient, and positioned for future growth. Completed ahead of schedule, this project is an excellent example of how communities can benefit from taking a holistic view of an entire corridor to address multiple needs.