The Governing Board approved the following project for inclusion in the TIP by adopting Resolution No. 2000-078 on 12/08/00

Sponsor: City of Berea
Estimated Total Cost: $20,050,000
Proposed Source of Federal Funds: Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21) earmark

History/Background:
On April 14, 1999, representatives from the city, CSX and Congressman Dennis Kucinich signed an agreement regarding the participation in the joint funding of the elimination of a rail-highway at-grade crossing on Bagley Road.

Current Conditions:
Bagley Road is a significant east-west arterial and part of the NOACA Congestion Management System (CMS) network.  It is five lanes with a two–way continuous left-turn lane. Land use along either side of Bagley Road consists mainly of mixed residential and light industry with some commercial activity.

Bagley Road is functionally classified as a principal arterial.  This facility carries a relatively high traffic volume of at least 14,800 vehicles per day (1991 count), which represents a peak hour volume of 1,480 (25 vehicles per minute).  There is fixed route transit service (Routes 68 and 89) along Bagley Road.

The number of trains per day is estimated at 54. The average train length is 6,300 feet.
Based on information provided and staff calculations, the amount of time needed for a train to traverse the crossing at 30 mph is about 2.5 minutes, causing a vehicular queue of about 23 vehicles (575 ' or 0.11 mile) from either side of the crossing.

Although storage capacity to accommodate the vehicular queue is available on either side of the crossing, the queue will block access to Bagley Road from adjoining side streets and driveways.  The amount of time needed to dissipate the queue of vehicles and restore normal traffic movement is about 1 minute.

Proposed Project:
Following a recent (2000) public hearing, a preferred alternative was selected for project development.  The proposed project involves the construction of a railroad/highway underpass (approximately 0.50 mile in length) on Bagley Road, just west of Lindberg Boulevard, in Berea. 

The estimated total project cost is $20,050,000 broken down as follows: preliminary engineering (PE) $1,870,000; right-of-way (RW) $2,480,000; and construction (C) $15,700,000. Funding participation for each project phase is as follows:

PE - $1,107,500 - CSX, $62,500 - ORDC and $700,000 – TEA-21;
RW - $580,000 – CSX and $1,900,000 - TEA-21; and
C - $7,512,500 - CSX and $8,187,500 - TEA-21   

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If you are a governmental entity and would like to comment on a project, please email us.

Staff Assessment (Summary):

Based on the current conditions, the amount of time needed to restore traffic movement to normal condition is not excessive.  The longest delay for any one vehicle is about 2.5 minutes.

Aside from grade separation, reasonable physical or operational alternatives improvements to mitigate the impact of potential high train traffic are virtually non- existent.
 

• The proposed improvement should be compatible with bicycle travel, as per USDOT guidelines.
• Project development activities should provide an emission reduction estimate for NOACA's 2006 budget year, project opening day (year), project design year and NOACA's transportation plan year.
   

Committee Review:
Bicycle Advisory Subcommittee (BASC)

• Berea is a college town and has a high number of cyclists.
• The ADT and truck traffic is high.
• Traveling under bridges can be somewhat dangerous to bicyclists because it is often dark and there may be site distance problems.
  
  The BASC recommends that 6' bike lanes be constructed on the roadway under the bridge (in addition to sidewalks).