fairlawn: City officials on Friday told leaders from neighboring communities that Rothrock Road will be blocked off just west of Sawgrass Drive starting Nov. 14.Mayor Bill Roth held an informational meeting to discuss his city’s plan to set up a three tiered barrier with a message board putting motorists on notice that the road is closed to through traffic.The plan is based on Fairlawn’s initial ordinance, passed in April, to shut off the road so that it does not become the main thoroughfare for a proposed 24-hour Walmart Supercenter and Sam’s Club with fuel pumps. Wal-Mart wants to close its Fairlawn stores and move into new buildings proposed for a vacant 40-acre lot on the northern portion of Rothrock Road in Copley Township. The road is already barricaded at the intersection of Rosemont Boulevard and
Rothrock Road.Copley Trustees approved the new development as long as the LRC Development Co. meets all zoning regulations. The 2-1 vote was cast Tuesday night after they learned of Fairlawn’s intention to move ahead with its original plan to shut down the portion of
Rothrock Road in Fairlawn.Akron, Summit County, Copley and Bath Township officials and safety forces, as well as Copley-Fairlawn school officials and some residents, attended the meeting.“We wanted to make sure we notified all the safety forces and schools so they could see how the system works and offer their comments,” Roth said. “This is a simple system. There is really no delay if you are a safety or police vehicle going up and down the road. The main thing was to get them the information so they know exactly what is going on.”Fairlawn police Chief Kenneth Walsh said signs will be posted to regulate traffic and there would be only one barricade in the middle of the road. “We will monitor the situation and see if there’s a problem,” Walsh said of ticketing motorists who ignore the closing.Copley police Chief Michael Mier said the plan shouldn’t slow down any emergency vehicles heading to the Montrose area, but a sign in the middle of the road may cause confusion for motorists and create problems.Copley Township legal counsel Irv Sugerman asked how the system would be monitored and whether there would be access to the stores already on the northern portion of Rothrock. The chief said it was still being evaluated.One resident asked whether there would be local access to Copley Place and guests of residents there. Fairlawn’s access to Copley Place would be maintained.Gus Kabbara, director of public service for the Summit County Engineer’s Office, said the county and Fairlawn have an agreement under which Fairlawn maintains snow and ice control on the road. He wanted to know whether that agreement would continue.“Our intention is to maintain it as we have always maintained it,” said Ernie Staten, supervisor of street maintenance for Fairlawn.He said the barrier would be well lighted with flashing lights.“It is called a Type III barricade,” Staten said. “It’s 5 feet tall and 8 feet wide and is made out of plastic, ODOT crash-worthy material.” It is designed to reduce injuries and will not shatter on impact.He said the street itself is 36 feet wide and the largest emergency vehicle is only 8 feet wide.“Heading eastbound, going toward West Market on Rothrock, there will be 16 and a half feet for access on the right side of the barricade and heading westbound coming from West Market to Cleveland-Massillon Road, there will be 12 and a half feet to get around,” he said.Three message boards will go up Nov. 1 to notify motorists that Rothrock Road will be closed to through traffic on Nov. 14.They will be set up at
Rothrock Road and Cleveland-Massillon Road, another at Rothrock and the curve, fairly close to Copley Place, and a third one near the driving range at Rosemont Country Club along Rothrock.The plan was designed by MS Consultants, a traffic engineering company with offices throughout Ohio. Roth said the consultants worked with the city’s engineer in drawing up the plan, but the consultants were “the experts on signage and distances and traffic issues.”There is pending litigation in the courts to prevent Fairlawn from closing the road. Copley and Fairlawn resident Kevin Woodman filed lawsuits. Both cases have been assigned to Summit Common Pleas Judge Alison McCarty, who has not ruled on the legality issue, but she did deny two requests for preliminary injunctions to stop Fairlawn from installing a gate system on Rothrock.Fairlawn has dropped the use of a gate system for now because of weather complications but decided to go ahead with the temporary barricade. Copley filed for a temporary restraining order this week in another effort to stop the road closingCopley trustee Dale Panovich offered this assessment after the meeting: “It’s a plan.”Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.