03/07/2006 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 3/7/2006 16) Within the week, the Service Department will begin moving from the current location in this building to the former NOMBL offices. 17) The administration will continue the use of our 1951 GMC Coach as a goodwill ambassador. Councilman Barker commented on the Claque Road issue and noted that residents were in attendance as they are concerned about the heavy traffic on Esther Avenue due to northbound traffic coming off of I-480. The signs on the freeway and ramp do not seem to deter the traffic from traveling north on Claque to Esther and down Esther into Fairview Park. At times, there have been 100 to 300 cars an hour traveling down Esther. Some motorists are also ignoring the signs at Lorain and Claque roads. One person actually went through the barricade, over the culvert and down to I-480. He inquired of the Mayor whether he was doing anything to address the concerns of this heavy volume of traffic on Claque and Esther. The majority of people coming up Claque Road aren't turning down Esther and going home in North Olmsted. In fact, when he has been there observing, he did not see one car stop at a resident's house at Esther they just kept on going into Fairview Park. Fairview Park is writing a lot of tickets for rolling stop signs. He would like to know what North Olmsted could do to try to correct this problem. Mayor O'Grady thanked Councilman Barker for his leadership on this issue. Based on the input received from Councilman Barker, from Mrs. Kessel and others who live on Esther Avenue, the city has taken some action. The signage has been adjusted at both Claque Road/I-480 and Claque Road/Lorain Road to more clearly indicate to the residents and motorists that the street is for residents only-it is not a through street any longer. Partial barricades have been erected to emphasize that position at I-480 and Claque Road. Traffic enforcement has been increased through the use of placing a police squad down near Esther at some points, and more usually a police squad at I-480 and Claque Road during the evening rush hour. Councilman Barker has recommended the consideration of a barricade on Esther. In his view that needs to be a final step as a barricade is a very drastic measure. We need to give it a little more time to better analyze and better understand the traffic patterns that we are currently experiencing. Also, once the culvert work is complete, there will be a new traffic pattern on the road-southbound only down Claque Road. The expectation is there would be less of a necessity to cut through on Esther into Fairview Park. He is staying in touch with the mayor of Fairview Park and the North Olmsted City Schools. We need to make sure that what we do, we do in an intelligent way in order to reduce the impact on all of our citizens. Councilman Barker suggested the sign at the I-480 ramp, which reads, "Road Closed at Esther Avenue, Local Access Only, No Access to Lorain Road," be revised by removing "at Esther Avenue." He is also concerned about children having to cross Claque Road to get on school buses contending with speeders when the traffic pattern is southbound only. Speed enforcement will be needed. Law Director Dubelko: 1) Recently attended a sex harassment training seminar put on by the Human Resources Director. This is an important area of federal civil rights law and it 3 r~~~Fx,u-~-,.:•,~.:~xF~,,,