Huber Ridge Area

I am new to the website (very impressive)finding the address at the Paris/Westerville Road community info board. I live off of Harbin and have for 2 years. Since the left turn lane has been closed to Strawberry Farms I have noticed a big increase in the traffic turning on to Buenos Aires Blvd, on to Harbin, to the church and to the park and private driveways using them as turn arounds to cross back over 161 in to Strawberry Farms. This is backing up traffic and causing occassional dangerous traffic and pedestrian problems. Children coming and going to the bus stop are in danger of these people turning and traffic gets backed up. Is anything being done about this? Can anything be done about this? I have already read the ''FAQs about the Removal of the S.R. 161 Westbound Left Turn Lane into Strawberry Farms. Am I the only one with concerns about this? Any thoughts?

By Nancy

Buenos Aires Turn around

I've noticed it too. I wonder if having a police officer parked in the area at rush hour would make a difference? I guess I still don't fully understand why the left turn lane to Strawberry Farms had to be closed, but it sure is causing our neighborhood a lot of grief. In fact, this entire project is becoming more and more of a headache everyday. I live on Paris, just off of Dempsey. Dempsey has become a freeway since all of the Sunbury Road construction began. And instead of fighting the lane restrictions on Sunbury, everybody seems to be going Dempsey to Paris to Buenos Aires. I have a hard time getting out of my own driveway anymore! Not to mention, my 13 year old son has a paper route on the other side of Dempsey and he has to cross the road several times to refill his paper bag during rush hour traffic. I don't like any of it. I sure hope that the finished product is worth all the hassles we've been enduring for so long now.

Buenos Aires turnaround

Hi Nancy,

No, you are not the only one with such concerns. Safety is a real issue and especially the safety of our children. A few of us have communicated our concerns about this issue (and others) to the trustees. They are aware of the problem. In fact, Jerry Ward lives close to the problem - on Acapulco - and he is well aware of the safety concerns. It is my understanding that our Service Director, John Giamarco, is attending meetings about this issue and is keeping the trustees apprised of the progress. I will let Jim Welch, the HRAA president, know what you have written (he often checks this section, but I will give him a heads up). You should be hearing from someone soon. Join us at our next HRAA meeting for such updates. It is Thursday, February 1, 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center. Three representatives from the OCC will be there for a Q& A, our police chief will be there to determine interest in a self-defense class for 'tweens and to answer any questions, and HRAA officers will provide written reports about their committees for your information. Thanks for your concern and for communicating your concern.

Turn Lane/U-Turns: Chief's Reply

Unfortunately, the police department can't stop people from turning around in the church parking lot or in private driveways, unless the drivers do so in a blatantly unsafe manner. We can however enforce improper turns in the roadway. Since January 6th, 2007, we have had all three patrol shifts spend a portion of their time each day monitoring the U-Turn problem at Buenos Aires & Harbin caused by the closure of the left turn lane from SR 161 to Strawberry Farms. From Jan. 6th through yesterday our officers have issued 61 citations and 10 warnings for U Turn violations in the intersection. These violations are occuring at all hours of the day. We had hoped that we could have a significant impact on the problem with vigorous enforcement. The problem does not seem to be slowing down and I am trying to use these enforcement statistics to convince ODOT that changes need to be made.

ODOT's traffic engineers that have determined that the distance from the end of the ramp (I-270 southbound to SR 161 westbound) to the intersection of SR 161 and Strawberry Farms, is too short to safely merge across all lanes of SR 161 and come to a safe stop at the back of the line of cars waiting to turn left (south) onto Strawberry Farms. This is not just a question of a fixed distance, it also takes into consideration speed and peak traffic congestion.

We have used enforcement data in the past to persude the engineers to get creative and ODOT has been very responsive with other problems. I am hoping that they can help us with this issue as well.

I will post ODOT's response on this website, when I get one.

In the meantime you can get more information at the website for the Northeast Expressway Tranformation (NExT)project, which is www.dot.state.oh.us/161next/. The public relations coordinator is Todd Sloan (740) 833-8063. He is also very helpful in answering questions about the project.