MANSFIELD — A $1.5 million roundabout construction project is likely in the summer of 2022 at the intersection of Cook Road/Illinois Avenue and Mansfield-Lucas Road.
Richland County commissioners on Thursday approved a request from county Engineer Adam Gove to seek bids for the project, first discussed in September 2019.
Construction costs are estimated at $1,353,906, according to Gove, who said a grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation will cover 90 percent of those costs.
“The road can only be closed during summer months while school is out,” the engineer said, citing its close proximity to Madison South Elementary School. “The contract gives them 75 days (to do the work). It will be a summer project.”
It will be the second roundabout in the county. The only other one was constructed in 2012 by the City of Mansfield at the intersection of Middle-Bellville and Straub roads at a cost of $500,000.
“The number of accidents was reduced in half in the first three years after it was constructed and the number of injury crashes went to zero,” Gove said in 2019. “That’s proof of what a roundabout can do.”
Gove said there will also be $150,000 needed for inspection services once the work is complete, raising the local cost to $285,391.
The proposal would increase safety at one of the county’s most dangerous intersections, Gove said in 2019. A Richland County Planning Commission study a few years ago identified it as the ninth worst intersection in the county overall and the worst among those under the county’s jurisdiction.
Gove said there were 21 crashes at the intersection between 2015-2018, averaging five to six per year. Fifteen of the wrecks resulted in injuries.
He said planners considered a roundabout and a traffic signal system, determining the former was the best and safest way to proceed.
Gove said there will be a “learning curve” for local drivers navigating the roundabout, which he said will be wider than the one in the city to better accommodate truck traffic on Illinois Avenue.
“Roundabouts have become more popular over the years, particularly in larger cities. In the end, it’s the safest option for that intersection. The stats speak for themselves when it comes to safety.”
Also on Thursday, commissioners authorized Gove to apply for Ohio Public Works Commission grants for possible road and bridge work at various sites around the county, including Orchard Park Road and the Linn Road bridge.
The grants, if approved, would cover about 40 percent of the costs of the projects, which have a total price tag of $2.25 million.
