State Route 82 Widening

Route 82 Widening UPDATE (PDF)

CUY 82-10.17 Royalton Road Widening
Town Centre Drive to Ken Mar Industrial Parkway
City of Broadview Heights and Brecksville, Cuyahoga County

 Project Purpose and Location:

In August 2008, the Northeast Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) released its list of roadway segments operating with the highest volume to capacity (v:c) ratios in Medina, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake Counties. The roadway segment of SR 82 from Ledgemont drive to Treeworth Boulevard was operating at a v:c ratio of 1.442, which was the eleventh highest corridor in the 5 county area. That is, the roadway was carrying 44% more cars than its theoretical maximum capacity. Even worse, this same study projected this roadway to become the fourth most congested segment in the entire NOACA planning area by the year 2030. In order to alleviate traffic congestion and related safety problems along the SR 82 coordinator, locally known as Royalton Road, the city of Broadview Heights and Brecksville have undertaken a comprehensive evaluation of the roadway, existing traffic conditions and projected future traffic patterns. This Safety and Corridor Study determined the type and extent of operation deficiencies along the roadway segment from Town Centre Drive to Ken Mar Industrial Parkway. The study also determined what improvements are needed to alleviate or minimize the operational and safety problems occurring along this corridor. This evaluation was completed in August 2013 with a submittal to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Statewide Safety Review Team (SSRT), which resulted in a grant award of $1.08M from ODOT for further plan development. The planned project in conjunction with the on-going improvements to the I-77/SR 82 interchange will alleviate  the magnitude of the traffic congestion and related safety problems. The vast majority of the accidents (73 out of 80 total) were rear end crashes indicative of excess congestion; these accidents involved vehicles waiting to turn left or waiting from upstream traffic to begin moving and being struck from behind by motorists unable to stop in time.

Proposed Improvements:

The preferred alternate to alleviate congestion and improve safety is to widen the existing 3 lane road to 5 lanes from Town Centre Drive to Ken Mar Industrial Parkway. Each end of the 6,200' long widening will tie into an existing 5 lane section, once the I-77 interchange improvement is completed later this year. The widened roadway results in 2 thru lanes plus a center two way left turn lane (CTWLTL) along the entire length of the roadway. This allows left turning traffic to move out of the thru lanes to alleviate points of congestion. The existing traffic signals at Avery Road, Oxford Trail and Windswept Drive/Taylor Avenue and KenMar Industrial Parkway will be replaced with new signals, complete with mast arms and updated controllers. In addition, the offset tee intersections of Glenwood Trail and Market Place East with Royalton Road will be realigned to create a 4 way approach with a new traffic signal. At all signalized intersections, there will be dedicated left turn lanes on the SR 82 approaches. There will be a total of 5 new traffic signals. Other project elements include a 5' wide sidewalk along the south side of the roadway and a 10' wide shared use path, for common utilization by bicyclists and pedestrians, along the north side. Lighting will be provided along both pedestrian pathways. The storm sewer collection system will be completely replaced with the roadway widening project. These systems will be designed for water quality enhancements utilizing turf bioretention basins, three in all, collecting runoff from the roadway to infiltrate into the surrounding soils. In addition, volumetric control of the rate of runoff, also called stormwater management will be incorporated into the project via in-line detention. This would consist of oversized pipes and/or infiltration basins. The exact type, size and location of these features has not been finalized. The overall intent is to hold the peak rate of runoff from the widened roadway to the conditions currently occurring. The majority of the roadway widening will occur to the north side of the existing roadway. This results in extensive utility pole and line relocations and the need from permanent right of way from every business or residence on the north side. Temporary easements for regrading of front yards and reconnections of drives is needed from every property owner on each side of the roadway. Note efforts are being taken to minimize the amount of property to be taken through the use of retaining walls in select areas. All right of way acquisition will be in accordance with the Federal Uniform Relocation Act. Once the design is completed and all needed areas of right of way are determined, the initial steps include an appraisal of the value of the raw land and any landscaping features or site improvements to be removed to accommodate the newly widened roadway and other ancillary features. It is anticipated right of way appraisal work will commence by the end of 2016. Three lanes of traffic on SR 82 will be maintained at all times during construction. Access to commercial and residential drives may be curtailed at times of rebuilding the drives and will be coordinated with all property owners and business managers. If there are multiple drives to a residence or business, only one will be reconstructed at any one time.

Construction is scheduled for April 2019 thru September 2021. Total Construction cost is estimated at $11,000,000, of which the City of Broadview Heights partnerships with NOACA and ODOT have contributed $6,130,000 and $835,000 respectively. The City will pursue separate funding sources for the traffic