Hebron Road: How much inconvenience is needed?

Some Heath council members and the mayor have been voted out of office, effective in January, for failing to heed the wishes of most Heath voters on the traffic cameras issue. Now a new and important question is before council: what to do about traffic safety on main street? They have a new chance to listen to citizens, but will they? Or might they do the honorable thing and leave this decision to the newly elected replacements?

On 11/17/09 Heath council heard about two options for building something down the middle of Ohio 79. One is a big planter for trees and bushes; the other is a six-inch-high hunk of concrete. For details, read the Advocate report here.

Calling it “a one-time opportunity, using someone else's money for the most part, to make it aesthetically pleasing," Zoning Chief John Groff wasn’t about to listen to some other alternatives being promoted by citizens, according to Ronnie Kidd, who led the Redflex-camera revolt.

Their idea is to at least try a much less expensive fix - using curb cuts along the highway, one that would allow left turns FROM THE HIGHWAY by shoppers and emergency personnel, while eliminating left turns FROM BUSINESSES ONTO THE HIGHWAY where lots of drivers meet sideways or rear-end-ways with other vehicles. They say just try it first and see if we couldn’t save money while allowing a more free and convenient flow of traffic.

Kidd says the city is “pressing for a vote Dec 7 to beat a ‘deadline’ that we are researching. From what I can find out, the deadline can be extended. With two new council members coming in, the vote on Jan 4 could be FAR different from the vote on Dec 7. I already know two council members would vote against the median and believe that the two incoming members could be swayed to get the 4-3 majority we need.”

Kidd backs up his statement about the deadline with a memo from the Federal Highway Administration that says time extensions may include cases “where the public involvement process has altered the State's plan for satisfying the project's purpose and need.”

So again, the eye of local citizens, perhaps Central Ohio, and particularly Heath businesses is focusing on the behavior of Heath officials. This time those officials go in knowing you can’t vote someone out of office twice. We’ll see whether they use that knowledge or do the honorable thing.