State to host meeting on roundabouts

Want to go? • What: A public forum on the U.S. 6 connectivity corridor project impacting a 6-mile stretch of U.S. 6 between Sandusky and Huron • Where: BGSU Firelands, 1 University Drive, Huron; It'll occur from the college's Cedar Point Center on campus. • When: 6-8 p.m. Thursday, March 28 • Who: Anyone can attend; For those who can't make it, there's an opportunity to virtually submit comments at publicinput.com/usr6. HURON TWP. — State officials invite locals to attend an in-person meeting to discuss an upcoming planned project, which calls for radically transforming a major corridor cutting through Erie County. A session for what's known as the U.S. 6 connectivity corridor project takes place from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, March 28 at BGSU Firelands. If people can't attend this meeting, then they can provide input virtually by visiting publicinput.com/usr6. "The Ohio Department of Transportation is proposing improvements along U.S. 6 between the city of Sandusky and the city of Huron," according to a department statement. "As a separate project, (the state) is including the construction of a segment of the Sandusky Bay Pathway to promote continuous pedestrian-friendly access between the cities of Sandusky and Huron," it continued. "This project has been developed through collaboration with many local government agencies and private businesses." Project partners include the governments of Sandusky, Huron and Erie County; Shores & Islands Ohio, Cedar Point/Cedar Fair along with the Federal Highway Administration. Project parameters Pegged as a $51 million expense, the project most notably consists of the following changes along a 6-mile stretch of U.S. 6 between Sycamore Line (U.S. 250) in Sandusky and Rye Beach Road in Huron: • Constructing five roundabouts at the following intersections: Perkins Avenue by Osborn MetroPark, Camp Road by Barnes Nursery, Rye Beach Road by a Shell gas station and a pair at the Ohio 2 ramp interchanges • Adding a center two-way left turn lane on U.S. 6 between Camp and Rye Beach roads • Building a 10-foot-wide multi-use path at or on: — The Sandusky Bay Pathway; This portion of the path will begin at Cedar Point Drive, cross over Pipe Creek at Castaway Bay and continue along Heron Creek Drive before turning south at East Shoreway Drive to continue east along the north side of U.S. 6, ending at Hemming Ditch — The road's north side from the Cedar Point Sports Center to Rye Beach Road — The road's eastside of Rye Beach Road from Cleveland Road through the Ohio 2 interchange up until University Drive/BGSU Firelands Construction on the actual connectivity corridor won't begin until April 2026 with a scheduled completion date set for October 2027. Work on the state's Sandusky Bay Pathway portion will begin later this year. Sandusky officials have incrementally built this pathway up in prior years with more sections slated for acquisition in the near future. By 2029, officials ideally want to create an uninterrupted 13-mile-long waterfront route, connecting Sandusky's west side to its east end, linking parks, piers, restaurants, hotels, businesses, wooded areas and more. Making sense of the dollars and cents The $51 million funding breaks down with: • $24.5 million from the Federal Highway Administration • $22.7 million from the state's transportation department • $1.5 million from Erie County • $1 million from Huron • $600,000 from Sandusky • $500,000 from Shores & Islands Ohio • $300,000 from Cedar Point/Cedar Fair On a related note, Sandusky officials, as a separate project, should break ground on a roundabout also on U.S. 6: at the Cedar Point Drive intersection near The Thirsty Pony. This $6 million project also calls for various other enhancements, such as signal upgrades, in this area. Strong opposition Consider Stephen Faber one person who staunchly opposes this project. Faber owns the Huron-area Maples Motel. Established in 1909, it represents one of Erie County's longest-running businesses still in operation today. People can find the independently operated Maples Motel about 300 feet away near an awkward intersection where East Perkins Avenue, near Osborn MetroPark, ramps down, crosses over two sets of railroad tracks and meets up with Cleveland Road (U.S. 6) at about a 45-degree angle. It's also where the state wants to build one of its roundabouts for this connector project due to many reasons. For instance, state officials contend it would reduce or possibly eliminate the many train-versus-car crashes happening there over the years. But, with the current configuration, officials can't just place a roundabout smack-dab at Cleveland Road and Perkins Avenue. Simply put, there's not enough space. So what's going to happen? Officials suggested rerouting Cleveland Road. Plans call for arching Cleveland Road north, through fields, and placing the roundabout just northeast of this intersection. Regarding East Perkins Avenue, while maintaining its diagonal direction, the street would extend straight ahead, beyond present-day Cleveland Road, and lead right into the roundabout. But what it also does: Cleveland Road, under this proposal, would veer away from Maples Motel's only entrance, near its sign. In other words, no longer can people directly access the Maples Motel from a main corridor. "The entrance would be gone, and the sign would be useless," Faber said. "No one would see it, and no one will know how to get to my business. I know it will severely cripple my business." "It literally puts the motel in a cocoon between a busy route and the railroad," he added. U.S. 6 "will be behind me, and the railroad tracks will be in front of me. So the peace and country feel that people get when they are here will pretty much be gone." Faber claims the Ohio Department of Transportation shut him out on providing any input regarding this decision. If it considered his ideas, no way would this recommendation go forward. While he supports safety upgrades, this roundabout "makes no sense," he said. "I have not seen any safety study that this roundabout will make the area any safer," Faber said. "But what it will do is it will virtually shutter my business if it goes through." When asked what accommodations, if any, the state can propose to avoid a possible closure of Maples Motel, in 2023, state transportation spokeswoman Crystal Neeson said, "Access to the motel will be discussed with the property owners as the project develops. Roundabouts are a Federal Highway Administration-proven safety countermeasure because they have proven to be successful in improving safety as well as improving operational performance (such as) less delay." Faber intends on attending the meeting. He previously said, "No one approached me. No one contacted me," when pursuing this project and revealing its initial plans. "My attorney and I plan to share our thoughts and alternative configurations that won't totally upset the Maples Motel business," he said. "I'm compiling the petitions that have been signed by thousands of citizens to help stop this project so that I can present them to (Sandusky and Huron, Erie County) and the state to highlight the tremendous support I have." Faber said people can reach out to him via email, sfabes@yahoo.com, if they'd like to sign the petition.