Township representatives attended a mandatory meeting in Columbus this month, and Fairfield and Oxford townships are working out what kind of signage to request. The deadline to apply for the application is March 15.
The grant offers a wide array of signage, ranging from various arrow signs to stop signs to speed limit signs. The Ohio Department of Transportation based the grant on crash data from 2009 to 2013. Every type of crash was considered, from property-damage-only crashes to fatal crashes.
Crash data from 2009 is no longer in ODOT’s online database, but from 2010 to 2013, Fairfield Twp. had 1,533 crashes, including three fatal crashes and 402 injury crashes. In the same period, Oxford Twp. had 401 crashes, including two fatals and 92 injury crashes.
ODOT maps show that Fairfield Twp. crashes are concentrated along Princeton Road and Tuley Road. In Oxford Twp., the fatal crashes tend to be around the boundaries of the city of Oxford, near Ringwood and Bonham roads.
Statistics also show that the total number of crashes declined in both townships. Fairfield Twp. had 369 crashes in 2010, but by 2013, that number dropped to 288. Oxford Twp. saw 131 crashes in 2010, but by 2013, that number had dropped almost by half to 79.
ODOT studies also point out that additional signage, contrary to popular belief, is not always effective. ODOT’s Traffic Engineering Manual states, “Generally multiway stop installations should be used sparingly because of the significant increases in delays and operating costs that can result from requiring all of the vehicles using the intersection to stop. Also, unnecessary stops, when the intersection is clear of conflicting movements, can lead to general disrespect for stop signs.”
But township officials want to keep their crash numbers low, especially with money and resources available from the state.
“There’s just a huge range of signs available,” said Toby Howell, Fairfield Twp’s service director, who is in charge of maintaining the township’s roads.
Gary Salmon, the president of Oxford’s board of trustees, said he was considering caution signs and curve signs, among others.
“We can get some additional stop signs in places where we can put two stop signs on each side of the road versus a single one, stop ahead signs. The grant includes signposts, hardware and everything,” he said.
Sharon Smigielski, a public information officer for ODOT said, “In some of these rural roads, you have curves and hills. If it’s not at an intersection, you might have a road that curves too quickly. The purpose of a sign is to tell motorists that a curve is coming up. At an intersection, people may not be stopping at a sign, so additional signage provides information that something is coming up. The overall purpose is to increase safety on the roads.”
This was the first year ODOT had meetings in Columbus to get townships more interested in the grant process, Salmon said.
“They’re predicting that everybody who applies will get the grants, because there’s a limit to how much there is, but it’s an average of about $21,000 per township,” he said. The cost of each sign ranges from approximately $13 to $172, with most signs costing about $80, according to the grant application.
Money from the grant comes in two phases. Notifications for the remaining state Fiscal Year 2015 funding will be made by March 3. Another round of funding is available July 1, when the State Fiscal Year 2016 begins. Notifications for the State Fiscal Year 2016 funding will be issued before July 1, 2015.
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