Health department adds new signs

SANDUSKY — Changes continue at the Erie County Health Department's campus in Sandusky. For starters, crews recently installed two big new signs to help visitors find their destinations. More alterations to the area will arrive soon. The health department plans to: • Build a new Kaptur House to provide emergency shelter and aid for people in crisis • Add a sidewalk and right turn lane to Superior Street Regarding the signs, one sits at the corner of West Monroe and Superior streets, directsing motorists to the health department's headquarters, 420 Superior St. The sign has long been needed, contends health commissioner Pete Schade. Schade said motorists on Monroe Street often have sailed past Superior Street, sometimes winding up in Lions Park instead. The other large new sign directs motorists who have arrived on campus to specific destinations, including the main entrance, the entrance for the detox center and the entrance for Becky's House, a residential treatment center for women in recovery. The sign at West Monroe and Superior streets sits on a lot where a now-demolished house once stood. Landscaping will be carried out soon on the lot. It will include blue spruce and hawthorn trees along with bushes. "I'm really excited about the landscaping," Schade said. "It's going to look nice." The Brady Sign Co. in Sandusky made the signs, working from Schade's designs. The signs cost about $30,000, Schade said. The property, where the West Monroe and Superior streets sign stands, costs about $100,000. The city is leasing it to the health department for $20,000 a year and will deed the property to the health department after five years, Schade said. The health department recently carried out a major expansion, putting up a new building to add more space and installing a cul-de-sac to make it easier for motorists to come to campus and to turn around and leave. But more changes are coming. Schade said the health department plans to add a sidewalk that will run down the west side of Superior Street, the side with the new entrance sign. In addition, the health department plans to add a right turn lane to Superior Street, for motorists who are leaving the health department and turning onto Monroe. That will accomplish two things, Schade said. It will make it easier for people to leave, as there will be a dedicated right-turn lane for right turns and a center lane for left turns. Traffic sometimes backs up for several minutes at closing time for the health department, he said. The addition of the right turn lane also will make life easier for large trucks that often have difficulties turning onto Superior Street. Truck drivers often call and ask for help in making a delivery, Schade said. "Most of the deliveries have my name and (mobile phone) number," Schade said.