$5.5 million for Carlisle Twp. roundabout, Lorain and North Ridgeville pedestrian safety over the next 6 years

The Ohio Department of Transportation has received $3,365,000 for a planned roundabout at state Route 301/LaGrange Road and Parsons Road on the southern end of Carlisle Township, scheduled to be built in 2032. Elsewhere in Lorain County, North Ridgeville will receive nearly $1.9 million for pedestrian/sidewalk safety improvements on Lorain Road in 2031, while Lorain will receive $250,000 for pedestrian improvements on Broadway in 2030, Gov. Mike DeWine's office announced Thursday. The money is part of the latest round of ODOT intersection and pedestrian safety improvements, totaling more than $72 million from Ohio's Highway Safety Improvement Program. The program "addresses road locations with a history of fatal or injury crashes where other safety improvements have not been effective," DeWine's office said in a news release. Roundabouts are safer than all-way/four-way or two-way stop sign intersections. They reduce total crashes as well as fatal and injury crashes by double digit percentages, according to ODOT. Route 301 and Parsons Road and the area surrounding the intersection has been the site of multiple serious crashes in recent years. A LaGrange man was killed in November when his Buick drove through a stop sign on Parsons Road and was struck by a Keystone school bus traveling south on Route 301. A Wayne County couple died in a Dec. 26 crash on Route 301 just north of Parsons Road. Improper passing and speed were blamed. Anthony Weir, 46, of Penfield Township has pleaded not guilty to charges of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in Elyria Municipal Court in connection with that crash. "Every life lost on our roadways is one too many," DeWine said in the news release announcing the funding. "These projects target the types of crashes that are most likely to result in death or serious injury. By investing in proven safety countermeasures, we're making our transportation system safer for everyone." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.