Oberlin council approves bid for paving, roundabouts

Bruce WaltonThe Chronicle-Telegram OBERLIN — City Council accepted a bid to add multiple roundabouts on Pyle-South Amherst Road on Monday.Council held a special meeting for several items, including the acceptance of the bid for the Pyle-South Amherst Road improvement project. The city awarded the project to Crossroads Asphalt Recycling of Columbia Station for the bid of about $720,000.The project will repave the road from Lorain to Hamilton streets while also adding three roundabouts and a golf cart crossing path to the repaving project. Three roundabouts will be placed at the three-way intersections on Pyle-South Amherst Road at Morgan Street, Spruce Drive and Robin Park Boulevard. A wide median crossing for golf carts will be built south of the entrance to Oberlin Golf Club parking lot.Some residents spoke at the meeting about not going forward with the project. Rod Knight, a resident who lives along the intersection of Pyle-South Amherst and Spruce roads, spoke in support of roundabouts in general, just not for Pyle."Yes we need the street repaved, but I just don't think we need traffic circles," he said.All Council members except Kristin Peterson approved the decision. Multiple Council members said the project is not the end of the improvement for the neighborhood, but a good start. "I think the city has done what we were approached about, which is to slow down traffic," said Councilwoman Sharon Pearson. "I remain firmly on my decision that I believe in these traffic circles." The project was first proposed as a repaving project after receiving a $250,000 Ohio Public Works Commission grant late last year. But then Council met with a neighborhood association for the street's residents in November and the members complained about speeding and safety concerns. In January, the Public Works Department recommended the roundabouts to Council as a way of helping to enforce the 25 mph speed limit.The roundabouts will be made with concrete and have "mountable curbs," which would allow large vehicles like delivery trucks, ambulances and fire engines to drive over the low curbs of the roundabouts. They would be smaller than what most think of as traditional roundabouts — 20 feet in diameter as compared with 80 feet to 200 feet, Baumann said.In the future, Baumann said the project will create the opportunity for sidewalks to be installed at a later time which some council members would like to add. The construction is expected to begin as soon as possible and take place over the rest of the summer. Contact Bruce Walton at 329-7123 or bwalton@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Facebook @BWalton440 or Twitter @BruceWalton.