Multi-million dollar project paves way for safer intersection

Teddy List

The intersection of Dorr and Secor has been a dangerous area for anyone who travels through it. It is estimated to cost about 5 million dollars in total for the construction and renovations to make it safer.

The Dorr Street Corridor, with two of its intersections previously ranked by the Ohio Department of Transportation as two of the most dangerous in Ohio, is currently undergoing almost 3.9 million dollars’ worth of construction to make the area safer for pedestrians and cars alike.

The intersection of Dorr and Secor in particular has long been a danger area for anyone who travels through it. Jason Toth, Assistant Vice President of Facilities and Construction, said Dorr’s intersection with Secor and Byrne is “one of the worst in the city in terms of accidents.”

It’s not just a matter of opinion, either. Richard Martinko, Director of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at UT, performed a crash analysis study through the Office of Research and Innovation on a volunteer basis, and found that between 2006 and 2008, there were over 100 accidents each in both intersections.

In comparison, intersections in the surrounding areas had anywhere from 1 to 35 accidents — a drastic decrease that serves to highlight the necessity of the current construction.

In July 2010 the city of Toledo, collaborating with the university, held a meeting to inform the public about the construction being done in the area. Martinko, who put together the application for the project, said there was no significant negative reaction from the local businesses at the meeting.

Ultimately, the application for the project was submitted to the Ohio Department of Transportation, who are the primary providers of funding for the work being done. The construction itself costs nearly 4 million dollars, with over 1 million being spent additionally on preliminary engineering and environmental costs, purchasing right of way and design and development, making the total cost of the project roughly 5 million dollars.

Following the beginning of the actual construction, the University has corresponded closely with the city on the project, as, according to Martinko, the two have a good working relationship.

Douglas Collins, Director of Grounds at UT, added that thanks to input from university members during the construction, the landscaping being done in the Dorr Street Corridor is modeled to match elements found on campus. A few examples are LED light fixtures and landscape piers that share a similar appearance to ones that students and faculty pass by on a day to day basis.

The improvements to the corridor have taken several different forms, all aimed at increasing the safety of the area. Several concern traffic control, which has been tackled in a number of ways.

The first involves the addition of a concrete median, which helps control access points along the corridor and prevents, for example, cars from cutting across four lanes of traffic while leaving a gas station or local business.

Along with the median, Collins notes that the crosswalks were made bigger as well for pedestrian crossing safety.

The main focus of the project is the intersection of Dorr with Secor and Byrne, where cumulatively over 200 accidents occurred between 2006 and 2008.

Martinko explains that the city aims to change this by adding a lane specifically for right turns, as well as two “thru” lanes, going west-bound on Dorr and Secor.

The cars planning on turning right will have their own lane and the traffic planning on going forward will have two of their own lanes as well, which should ease traffic congestion. Similar measures are being taken heading east-bound in the same area by adding two left turn lanes, and two more thru lanes.

Safety isn’t the only word on the street, though giving the corridor a metaphorical facelift and adding to the aesthetic value is also on the agenda.

The university provided around half a million dollars for streetscaping in addition to the 3.89 million already put toward construction. Among other things, the changes involve moderate landscaping, and moving utilities underground, both for the sake of improving the appearance of the area.

Despite the ongoing changes, Oasis, Taco Bell and Burger King, a few of the businesses located on Dorr Street, said that their business has not been affected by the ongoing construction.

The bulk of the construction is expected to finish by the end of this year, with the remaining construction set to conclude in the spring, according to Martinko.

In addition to the safety improvements to the area, Martinko said the project is expected to save road users 2 million dollars annually due to a reduction of crashes in the area, and added that the breakeven for the 5 million dollar project will be in roughly 2.5 years.

Overall, Toth said, “When complete we believe that the Dorr Street Corridor improvements will not only improve the aesthetics along the southern border of main campus, but greatly improve safety.”

Future projects include a possible addition of an interchange to increase traffic flow through the area, which will be presented to ODOT for consideration Oct. 8th.