The Lucas County engineer’s office is seeking the help of every citizen in northwest Ohio to improve the safety of the transportation network across the region.
Community members are invited to visit the engineer’s website at Lucas CountyEngi neer.org and access the Northwest Ohio Transportation Safety Plan public input map on the homepage.
The online tool allows users to point to any location on the map within Lucas, Ottawa, Wood and Sandusky counties and provide constructive feedback on the safety and efficiency of these places.
Users can comment on anything from observations of bad driving behaviors like speeding and distracted driving or on improvements needed, ranging from significant projects like a roundabout or road widening to more simple fixes such as restriping the road or new lighting.
“We are looking for both positive feedback where you see things are working, and critical feedback where you see room for improvement and change,” said Mike Pniewski, county engineer.
In February, the Lucas County engineer’s office, along with Wood, Ottawa and Sandusky counties, was one of 510 recipients nationwide of a $400,000 federal grant as part of the new Safe Streets and Roads for All Program (SS4A).
The grant allows for the creation of a Transportation Safety Action Plan, which will identify measures, locations and projects that will lead to a safer and more equitable transportation system, with the main goal of reducing traffic fatalities.
All four county engineer’s offices have been closely working with transportation consulting firm Toole Design this year to develop this action plan, looking at traffic crash data and identifying the biggest problem areas across the region, but also diving into the why’s and how’s, including driver behaviors and user access to safe roads and transportation methods.
The core advisory team has been speaking with stakeholders and representatives across all four counties, urban, suburban and rural, as well as different users of the systems from car and motorcycle drivers to users of public transportation, bicycles and other modes.
“We are asking the public to provide their input on what they believe can be done to improve transportation safety,” Mr. Pniewski said. “Good public input is vital in helping the study team recognize areas and measures to enhance safety by the people who use the roadways most.”
The map will be live and open for comment until January 15, 2024.
