On December 11, 2009 the NOACA Governing Board approved the following regarding this project: Resolution No. 2009-037 Project Planning Review Resolution No. 2009-038 Plan and TIP Amendment Title: Improvements on SR-44 in Newbury Township Sponsor: Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) PID No.: 86849 Estimated Total Cost: $238,889 Proposed Source of Federal Funds: ODOT History/Background: This project is identified as a Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) project. Current Conditions: SR-44 (Ravenna Road) is functionally classified as a rural principal arterial. SR-44 is a two-lane facility. The average daily traffic is 7,810 vehicles per day (NOACA Geauga County Highway Traffic Counts, published January 2009). Proposed Project: This project involves removing a portion of the embankment on the east side of SR-44, near the intersection of Music Street (location map), to improve sight distance. The estimated total cost is $238,889. The estimated cost of the right-of-way (RW) is $55,556. Ninety percent ($50,000) of the RW cost will be funded with State Surface Transportation Program (S/STP) funds, and ODOT will fund the remaining ten percent ($5,556). The estimated cost of the construction is $183,333. Ninety percent ($164,999) of the construction cost will be funded with State Surface Transportation Program (S/STP) funds, and ODOT will fund ten percent ($18,333) of the cost. Staff Comment (Summary): Plan and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Team: This project is consistent with NOACA’s Connections 2030 Goal #3 (Preserve and Improve the Efficiency and Safety of the Transportation System) and ODOT’s Access Ohio 2004 - 2030 Goals #1 (Transportation Safety) and #4 (System Preservation). Recommend committee and public review in order to obtain comments. Regional Transportation System (RTS) Team: Using ODOT’s GCAT tool (GIS Crash Analysis Tool) a section of roadway between Forestwood Drive and Pond Road along SR-44 was analyzed. From 1/1/06 through 3/31/09 there were 27 crashes along this 0.33 mile stretch of SR-44. Of these 27 crashes; two were fatal crashes, 10 injury crashes, and 15 property damage only crashes. Using a simple severity rate calculation where fatal accidents are weighted by 12, injury accidents are weighted by three and property damage only crashes are weighted by one, this one third mile stretch of SR-44 has a severity index of 2.55 which is very high. In comparison, the severity index of all crashes in Geauga County during 2008 was 1.52. In addition, this .33 mile stretch of SR-44 had an accident rate of 9.8 crashes per million vehicle miles travelled for the 3.25 year period during which crashes were considered. According to ODOT, in 2008 Geauga County had an average crash rate of 3.19 crashes per million vehicle miles travelled. Intergovernmental Review and Consultation (IGRC): If you are a representative of a governmental entity and would like to comment on this project, please email us. Public Involvement: NOACA encourages comments from the public on this proposed transportation improvement project. Please notify us if you would like to be added to our e-mail notification list for future updates. Committee Review: Regional Transportation Investment Subcommittee (RTIS)/Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC): No comments; recommended for amendment to NOACA's Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Asset Management Council: This project is consistent with Asset Management Council goals.