Fairchild Bridge TEMPORARY Closure...

Given the high traffic volumes that use the Fairchild/Crain Avenue bridge we knew from the start that the key to success of the project would not just be ending up with a shiny new bridge, it would also be how we got the shiny new bridge in place, which is why we made a commitment to do everything we could to minimize the traffic disruption.  

Easier said than done on the largest bridge project in the history of Portage County.   

There’s no doubt that traffic has been impacted during construction as lanes have been shifted, reduced and moved around over the last 12 months of the project, but hang on to your hat because starting Wednesday, July 20th and running through Monday July 25th the bridge will be closed. 

C-L-O-S-E-D…as in no traffic at all…as in how the heck do I get across the Cuyahoga River to head north out of town?

The best answer is to just stay and shop and eat in Kent this week and forget heading north but if that’s not a realistic option you’ll have to use the Haymaker Parkway bridge to access State Route 43.  It’s admittedly inconvenient but it’s probably less than a quarter mile out of way so hopefully for 5 days we will survive. 

The bridge closure really was an option of last resort.  Our City Engineer lives and breathes this project and after the first 12 months he knows exactly how frustrating the whole detouring thing can be for everyone, and the last thing he wants to do is to give everyone inspiration to call him up and share their insights into his latest decision on this project — but some decisions are unavoidable, so here we go.   

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In his defense, our City Engineer offers the following explanation for the bridge closure: 

During this closure the contractor will raise the upper tracks (A.B.C. Railroad) to its final elevation. Since the rail line crosses the existing bridge, the bridge must be closed during this work. A detour will be posted and emergency vehicle access to all areas will be maintained. Businesses along Lake Street that receive truck shipments have been coordinated with to allow them access without driving through residential neighborhoods.

The original plans called for incremental raising of the rail lines without shutting down the Crain Avenue Bridge. However, due to numerous factors including coordination with the railroads, underground utilities, hazardous materials and weather delays the method of raising the tracks required changing.

The raising of the tracks (approximately four feet) is required to open the new Fairchild Avenue Bridge, which is scheduled for this October.

Citizens Police Advisory Meeting...

After about a year of monthly meetings with a volunteer Citizens Police Advisory committee covering a wide range of public safety topics (home safety, lethal force, K9 crews, and more) , the Kent Police Department is starting off the second year with a presentation on their plans to offer a new Citizens Police Academy for interested Kent residents in 2011-12.  The Citizen’s meeting is set for July 12, 2011, in the Police Training room at 7:30 a.m.  Anyone is welcome to attend. 

Given the popularity of Police Academies in other communities, the concept of a Kent Police Academy has been talked about for some time, but to do it right meant finding resources to put towards it — and in these tight times, that took awhile.  But we think we’ve accumulated enough to give it a try.

Fortunately, last year we were successful in applying for grant funds to improve collaborative Police – Community relations and in addition to scheduing more neighborhood Policing and outreach, the Police staff revisited the concept of a Police Academy and they are putting the final touches on a 12 -week curriculum before rolling it out over the next couple of months.

July’s Citizen Police Advisory meeting is devoted to an open discussion of the elements of the Academy for public input.  The Police think they’ve got a good concept but they want to run it by City residents first since that’s the target audience. 

I’ve watched the Citizen Police Academy graduates earn their diplomas in each of the cities I’ve worked in and I’ve seen first-hand how popular they can be, so I am optimistic that Kent’s new program will be a success.  That success will depend on customizing the program to meet the Police and Kent residents expectations, so if you can join the planning meeting please do so. 

Here’s the meeting notice from Kent’s Public Safety Director:

Best Practices...

With City dollars tighter than ever, we’ve got to be smarter than ever in everything we do, especially when it comes to something as important as keeping people safe (which is a big part of what do). 

City revenue challenges have caused us to cut millions from our budgets over the last 5 years but we’ve held true to a core belief that those cuts can not be made at the expense of public safety.  That’s easier said than done, and that’s why working smarter is so important.

The good news is that thanks to the internet there’s more information than ever before about the latest and greatest technology and techniques in crime prevention and response so we don’t have to spend so much money to learn what works;  instead we can learn for free from others who already paid for it.  That’s what best practices are all about. 

The trouble is, sometimes with so much out there, it’s like trying to get a drink from a fire hose. 

The challenge of data management is like riding the wave of a tsunami.  Do it right and it’s got major upsides, but it doesn’t take much to get overwhelmed and get lost at sea.   

Search engines can locate a lot of data but looking through 13,214 pages can be tough unless you’ve got endless hours and energy — both of which are in short supply these days as everyone’s carrying a heavier load and pulling double duty.   Fortunately, there are a growing number of web services (often affiliated with government associations) that do the looking for you and we use those sources a lot more than you might think.

We like to be on the leading edge of public services — not necessarily the bleeding edge — so we’re always scanning to see who’s come up with an innovation in our respective fields; we see how much it costs and we look at the results.  From there, we can decide if we want to pull the trigger and be an early adopter.

Admittedly, money to invest in something in new is not always readily available so our spirit of early adoption is often tempered by the practical realities of our City finances, but we’re a persistent bunch and we often find creative ways to be cheap early adopters. 

Here’s a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice announcing their new web-based service (crimesolutions.gov) for identifying and sharing best practices in crime prevention and response:

River Safety...

Last week City Council proclaimed Wednesday, June 15th as Police Officer Enymoser Day in the City in honor of his quick thinking and creative use of his K-9 dog leash to reel in a person that had fallen in the river and was being pulled under by the force of the current.  

Thankfully this story had a happy ending but it served as a reminder of how important it is to be prepared for the unexpected. Following that incident, the City staff met to develop a more detailed strategy for ensuring river safety that goes beyond issuing K-9 leashes to all our employees.  Here’s a look at what they’ve come up with:

Synopsis        

With the recent incidents involving river safety in Kent as well as other communities in the area, some members of city staff decided to meet to consider ways to improve water safety.  The nature of the concerns involve the safety of those people interested in recreation on the water (kayakers, etc.), as well as the increasing numbers of people who wish to swim or wade in the water.  Equally important are the concerns for those who are responsible for the safety and rescue of local water users.

This group will be considered an informal task force, since most of the issues should be handled quickly, and the group will then be dissolved.  Continuing responsibilities will then fall back to the respective city departments for maintaining the safety efforts.  We have developed some strategies to investigate and consider in order to address these concerns.

Results of the meeting:

• Consideration of how to gauge the water flow and safety conditions on the river, and make the public aware of these conditions.

Discussion in this area included possible methods of gauging river conditions based on known standards of depth and flow at Hiram and Old Portage.  Also discussed was the possibility of gauging and creating standards with equipment at the pump house near the dam. 

For the time being, the possibility of creating color-coded paint marking at a few sites within the river will be pursued.  The various depth colors will indicate the treacherous nature of the conditions at the time.  Over time, experienced users of the river will recognize whether the conditions are within the skills of the user.  Signs may be used to clarify and define the meaning of the colored coding for novices. 

Notification/signage advising of proper safety considerations in park areas that may commonly be used for swimming, etc.

Staff  brought some samples of signs that might be valuable in cautioning casual users of the river for swimming, wading, etc.  After discussion, it was decided that John Idone should follow up on this option since most of the areas where these activities take place are park properties.

• Formalizing and firming up the protocol for activation of the dive team in response to possible rescue situations.  This action will result in a clearer, more standardized protocol on activation of the team, with guidance on the definition of a when someone is regarded as a possible “victim,” requiring team activation. 
• Training and equipment for other first responders, especially the police.

Some rescue training has been conducted for the police, but there is very little equipment available when officers may be the first to respond to a potential drowning incident.  The ready availability of “throw bags” in several cruisers will be very valuable.  The addition of special personal flotation devices (PFD) is also critically essential for those who may be thrust into the situation of executing a rescue attempt.  This equipment will be investigated by Greg Urchek and Bill Lillich, and training updates, especially for new personnel, will be undertaken by the Fire Department.

• Water safety demonstrations and distribution of safety materials for the public.

This type of presentation is often to demonstrate safe boating tactics, etc., but the focus of this effort is to attract average citizens in order to reinforce safe practices while being in and around the water.  Advanced safety practices will be highlighted in the next week, in hopes that some interest will be generated for presentation at the Heritage Festival.  Again, the highlight at the festival will be safety while wading, swimming, or lazing around the river.  Safety materials and publications will be in abundance.  This will be handled by Dave Moore, Dave Herpy and the Portage County Dive Team.

• River clean up efforts are considered akin to safety in that branches, tree, logs and other clutter can be removed.  It is best accomplished in late summer, and will probably be scheduled in August.  Dave Herpy feels that many of the Kent State group will be willing to volunteer in the clean up.  This will be managed by Gene Roberts and KSU’s Dave Herpy.

Police K9 Challenge...

I’ve always been impressed how the national, state and regional fire and police organizations have done a great job of incorporating competition as part of thier professional training. 

I’ve had a chance to watch firefighter competitions and they are intense – combining physical endurance and emergency response skills.  Try pulling 50′ of hose up 3 flights of stairs wearing full gear in 90 degree heat.   

This year, the region’s Police staff organized a K9 competition at Akron Lock 3 to give man’s best friend a taste of competition too.  K9 officers from around the Greater Akron area competed in three areas — attacking a suspect, agility, and an obstacle course.

Kent K-9 Officers Marty Gilliland and Jim Ennemoser represented Kent in proud fashion, landing their dogs on the podium and bringing home the hardware.  It turns out that Jim and Aiko finished second place in the obedience competition and Marty and Felo finished third place in the criminal apprehension event. 

As part of the event’s promotion, one officer led a demonstration in which his dog attacked Channel 3 reporter Eric Mansfield.  Here’s a video clip from that portion of the event.

Watch the Video

National Police Week...

 A couple of years ago I read the book ”Into the Kill Zone” which featured first-hand accounts of what it’s like to put on a badge every day and put yourself in the line of fire for the protection of our community. 

After reading the stories of 100′s of Police Officers who came face to face with split second life and and death decisions, you realize how movies and TV dramas have grossly distorted the public perception of peace keeping.  This stuff is real and there are no do overs. 

The stories introduce Police Officers who were tragically shot and other Officers who faced situations where they had to pull the trigger with equally tragic consequences.  There’s no doubt that good comes from Police protection but what emerges from the book is that the use of lethal force changes lives forever no matter which side of the gun you’re on.

In honor of the men and women in blue this week, who take these risks on our behalf, we celebrate National Police Week from May 15th to May 21st.  If you happened to drive by a City building on Sunday, May 15th you might have noticed that the U.S. Flags were hung at half mast, in memorial for all those officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

While it may not be a National holiday, May 15th is Peace Officers Memorial Day, a national day of observance that has been celebrated since 1961. 

According to Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS), about 140-160 officers are killed in the line of duty each year and their families and co-workers are left to cope with the tragic loss.   Many businesses and community members across the nation, especially those who lost family members, friends or colleagues who were local officers, will lower their flags in remembrance of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty and some police departments hold an annual law enforcement memorial ceremony on this day.

Each year, COPS organizes a national memorial service on the day, drawing thousands of people from many parts of the United States. The service is followed by the placement of a memorial wreath at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC. On this day, people are also reminded of the need to be vigilant against all forms of crime.

Kent Police Captain Urchek reminds us all:   ”“Twice, I’ve attended the Police Officer’s Memorial in Washington D.C. and found it to be a very moving and meaningful experience.  If you have never attended one of these ceremonies, either in D.C. or in Ohio (BCI London), then I suggest you do so and pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and their families as well.”

Thank you Captain Urchek, Chief Lee and all our Kent Officers for being the line in the sand between harm and safety in Kent. 

Some of the faces have changed, but here's a slightly dated group photo of Kent Police Officers.

Fairchild Bridge Update...

Good news, the City Engineer is reporting that he expects ODOT to completely re-open the Fairchild Avenue @ SR 43 intersection by Thursday, May 12th of this week. 

Our soggy Spring delayed the completion of  the weather sensitive portions of the concrete and striping work but the last couple of sunny days seems to have been enough to get that work back on track. 

The timing couldn’t be better since we’ve given the green light for the Memorial Day parade to resume it’s celebratory march through downtown and out to the high school using the traditional Main Street to SR 43 route in less than 3 weeks. 

Here’s a copy of the news release on the status of the bridge work this week:

May 10th Citizen Safety Advisory Committee Meeting...

The Kent Safety Director has announced the date and time for the May 2011 Community Advisory Committee meeting:  May 10th, 7:30 am, at the Main Fire Station on Depeyster Street. 

This meeting will be held at the Fire Station where the advisory committee members will get a chance to participate in the Fire Department’s special training/educational apparatus called the Hazard House.  As you can read in the Safety Director’s notice and Fire Chief’s comments below, this a unique device that is a great safety education tool. 

Summit Street Improvement Project...

With all the downtown construction, bridge construction, traffic signal construction and building construction going on all over town, I have a sense that one of our more significant planning projects has been lost behind all the detour signs lately.

That would be the Summit Street improvement project. 

The project hasn’t really had as much air time in the media as I thought it would, although I admit that it’s hard to get as excited about traffic engineering plans on paper when you’ve got so much construction going on in the streets every day.  Still, this project has great upside and is definitely worth of talking about.   

Summit Street is a heavily traveled corridor, and as such it’s a gateway that has the potential to make a great positive statement about Kent and Kent State University.  The good news is that positive statement is currently being scripted by the citizens and staff that have waded into the engineering and planning for the future of this corridor, so I thought I’d share some of the commentary between those groups as a way to offer some insight into the hard work and serious thinking going on in those planning rooms.

General Summit Street Improvement Project Limits

Like most things our City Engineers get involved with there was a problem that had to be fixed so they started the wheels turning – in this case the root problem was too much traffic congestion.  In addition to coming up with congestion fixes, the citizens and staff have sought to leverage this $11 million project into another transformative type of infrastructure improvement that when completed will have a lasting impact that does more than just move cars faster from point A to point B.  

It’s figuring exactly what that will look like that’s the tricky part.  For starters here’s how the engineers characterize the project in typical direct (and mathematical) engineering style: 

Summit Street 

The Summit Street corridor, from Lincoln Street to Loop Road, is one of the most highly congested routes within the Portage/Summit County area. The Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS), which calculates street capacities within the area, has determined this route has a LOS of “E.”

Level of Service (LOS) – A qualitative measure from A (best) to F (worst) describing operational conditions within a traffic stream, generally described in terms of such factors as speed and travel time, freedom to maneuver, traffic interruptions, comfort and convenience, and safety. LOS is measured by degree of volume to capacity ratio.

The Summit Street Traffic Signal Coordination project is being coordinated with Kent State University and involves the installation of new traffic signals with central coordination from Water Street to Loop Road along the Summit Street corridor.

Included in the design will be turning lanes where appropriate and access management. This will reduce the number of access points (drives/streets) entering onto Summit Street. The project will also attempt to limit pedestrians and vehicular conflicts along the corridor.

Project Status

•  Citizens Advisory Committee has completed their study of alternatives and has provided direction on alternates to be presented at a public meeting
• Consultant currently working on exhibits for future public meeting
• Working on environmental document

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Traffic design alternatives is another way of saying we’ve got a lot of opinions weighing in on how this project should look so lets try to cluster those opinions around some common themes, give each some time in the sun, and then see if we can find a consensus direction that emerges from the mix.  Not an easy task, but when done right, it works — which is why the staff and the citizens are investing so much time in it. 

Below is an exchange between one of the citizen advisors and a City staff engineer that gives you a sense of the discussion — no prediction on how it all turns out, but certainly interesting reading:

I have a few questions for you:

1.  I saw URS out surveying and when I got home from work, I noticed that there were right-of-way stakes in place.  I noticed that the majority of stakes were on the south side of Summit Road, with only one stake on KSU’s property.  Isn’t there any right-of-way on the KSU side of Summit, or hasn’t it been marked yet?

Reply:  The R/W was staked along Summit St. at Wind Chimes from my meeting with residents and staff.   When we met at the site questions came up as to where the right-of-way was in regards to the existing pavement and Wind Chimes sign. We thought it would be helpful for everyone if the right-of-way was shown to determine where proposed items would be going (i.e. sidewalk and bike lanes). We do not plan on staking the right-of-way on the KSU side (or Loop Road) at this time.

2.  The same question applies to Loop Road.  The only right-of-way stakes I saw were on the west (Windchimes) side of the street.  Isn’t there any right of way on the east side, or was it just not marked yet?

Reply:  See answer to #1 above

3.  It is difficult to tell distances from the 11×17 aerial with overlays.  Are there engineering plans available that detail all of these options?  If not, when will they be available?

Reply:  There are no engineering plans drawn to date. The purpose of the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) Meetings and the preliminary planning is to determine the preferred alternate to solve the congestion and safety problems on Summit Street. Once a “general” preferred alternate is selected than detailed engineering plans will be developed. If there is specific dimensions desired we can provide those. Especially if it helps on selecting one of the three alternates that you received.

4.  Is there a key that goes along with the aerial photos?  For example, I have heard that bike lanes/sidewalks are still proposed for the south side of Summit.  Is this correct?  It is not clear from the aerial.  Again, getting detailed plans as cited in #3 is critical.

Reply:  Bike lanes and sidewalks are proposed for Summit Street for all three alternates. These were considered essential items during the planning and CAC process. The “general” alternate includes the following dimensions:

- Back of Sidewalk is 3 feet from the existing right-of-way (in the existing right-of-way)

- The Sidewalk is proposed to be 6 feet wide

- The tree lawn (area between sidewalk and curb) is proposed as 6 feet wide

- The bike lane would be five foot from the face of curb

- The vehicular lane would be 11′ wide

Therefore the Vehicular travel lane will be +/- 20 feet from the existing right-of-way. Therefore in the area near Loop Road we are proposing to move cars away from the condos.

5.  In any of the options, there is a left turn lane proposed from Loop ontoSummit.  The currently staked R/W indicates that the R/W extends to the west of the current sidewalk.  If this sidewalk is consumed by the turn lane; is there a proposal to additionally put a new sidewalk into this now very small space between the road and the backside of the condos?  Or would any new sidewalk be within the current right-of-way?  And if the proposed new sidewalk would be put in on WindChimes property… who would pay for the installation and upkeep

Reply:  Alternates 1 & 3 do not include a left turn lane from Loop (northbound) to Summit Street (westbound). Alternate 2 would include a left turn lane. The intent of alternate 2 would be to perform the permanent work (sidewalks, curb, street, etc.) within the existing right-of-way. The cost of the construction of any alternate for the project is currently being paid by grants, the City and KSU. Maintenance of any sidewalks (existing or proposed) are the responsibility of the adjacent property owners.

6.  When is the next committee meeting scheduled?

Reply:  At this time there is not another CAC meeting scheduled before we have a general public meeting. However, I and my staff would be more than willing to meet with Wind Chimes directly on these alternates. Anytime that would be best (evenings and weekends included).

7.  Is there an over-arching schedule that shows when the plans/options will be discussed with Council, public meetings held etc.? 

Reply:  At one time there was. However, the planning process has extended beyond the original schedule. I will give you the next upcoming steps and a rough time frame for when they will occur:

- URS to develop overall alternate figures representing the results of the CAC meetings (4-6 weeks)

- Present the proposed options to City administration (not council) and address follow up comments (2 weeks)

- Present the proposed options to KSU administration and address follow up comments (2 weeks minimum)

- Host a public information meeting (4-6 weeks to prepare and have a meeting)

- Open Comment period for the public meeting (2-3 weeks)

- Prepare a summary of the meeting comments and present to Kent City Council (4 weeks)

The above steps would be in series. Therefore, I see at the earliest 3-4 months before a public meeting and 4-5 months before presenting to Kent City Council.

Winter In Rear View Mirror?...

The way this schitzophrenic spring has been — windstorm for 10 minutes, followed by rain, followed by thunder, with an occasional cloud break to catch a few glimpses of that fire ball in the sky that I seem to recall seeing when I was child — I hesitated writing anything to suggest that winter is over for fear of a retaliatory strike. 

But I’m going out on the limb to say that I think winter is finally behind us and hopefully I won’t jinx us by talking about a great video that a Kent State Student compiled that takes a closer look at the challenges (and heroes) of Kent’s citizen sidewalk shoveling brigade. 

Ok, brigade might suggest an army of sidewalk shovelers out there and that’s still a bit of an overstatement, but take heart, as this video points out, there’s definitely some home town heroes that don their green beret ski caps, mittens and gloves as they brave winter’s worst to make sure their neighbors can safely get where they need to go using their two feet, rather than four wheels. 

It’s too bad that the spirit behind earning merit badges for civic duty seems to have gone out of style with Opie in Mayberry because honestly, being a good neighor today is still as important as it ever was. 

By the end of winter, shoveling the driveway, much less the sidewalk, is one of the last things any of us want to do but its no less important than shoveling those first flakes that floated blissfully to a stop on the stoop. 

I know that I do shovel because it feels good to do something good for someone else without any strings attached – and so do the good Kent folks in this video.

Sidewalk Shoveling Heroes Video