SWANTON, OH (Toledo News Now) - ODOT will start the major Road Diet project Thursday to help make it safe for drivers. The intersection of state route 2 and 295 has been the site of ten accidents between 2007 and 2009.
ODOT hopes that by beefing up the number of changes to the intersection, they are able to cut back on the number of accidents.
"Due to the number of crashes, and the severity of the crashes at this intersection, what you have is a high rate of speed. People going in different directions and sometimes it would be difficult to see the oncoming traffic," said Theresa Pollock with ODOT.
Ed Pastorek has owned an auto repair shop near the intersection for eight years. Pastorek said he has seen nine of the ten accidents at the intersection.
"Right when you hear the noise you know what happened. A lot of times, it's unbelievable what parts and pieces end up inside my building. Hub caps and parts and other stuff flies in there. It's pretty uhh horrifying you could say," said Pastorek.
ODOT says their road diet plan will curb the number of crashes here by reducing the stretch of road to one lane of traffic in each direction to slow traffic. They will also add two turning lanes.
" It's going to assist in making those left hand turns whether it's from 295 or state route 2, it's going to make that movement a little safer. And that's the whole goal here, to improve the safety of those intersections," said Pollock.
The project will be underway through November.
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