The “ugly green apron” construction plan for West Boundary and Front streets in Perrysburg has apparently suffered the same fate as an unpopular roundabout at that intersection: it’s not happening.
Perrysburg City Council’s service committee opted to put any work at the intersection on the back burner in favor of a downtown improvement project.
Cooper Suter, who lives on West Front Street, said he would like to see more citizen involvement if the project comes up again.
“It seems throughout, citizen safety and quality of life is lower ranking than commuter vehicles, speed, and volume,” he said. “It just seems like, at least in that corridor, good planning and citizen needs aren’t a priority.”
Mr. Suter asked council whether the proposed roundabout project was dead.
“Yes,” Councilman Mark Weber replied before noting that a $4.3 million grant through the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments was applicable only to the $5.9 million roundabout proposal, not for any other way of reworking the existing signalized intersection.
“We are not allowed to use it for anything except that roundabout,” Mr. Weber said. “We never even got [the grant].”
Administrator Joe Fawcett said the city may not use the money toward a $1.9 million signalized version — dubbed the “ugly green apron” by neighbors — which had been considered instead of a roundabout.
The city is declining the TMACOG grant, and officials will focus time and resources on the $4.7 million downtown improvement project, he said.
“At some point in the future, though, the city is likely going to have to revisit the issue of that intersection,” Mr. Fawcett said.
The intersection will be key as improvements are made to Orleans Park, and improved access to the park becomes a priority, he said.
Mr. Weber said he appreciated the administration looking for another way to use the grant money instead of funding the roundabout.
“If you can’t, you can’t, and declining it is the right thing to do,” Mr. Weber said.
A conceptual layout for the traffic-signal version was part of a study conducted by DGL Consulting Engineers of Maumee and was never officially approved or released by the city. DGL has been doing city-requested reports about traffic in that area.
“So, the green apron is gone too?” Mr. Weber asked.
“At this point, there’s no plan for it,” Mr. Fawcett said.
If the intersection is revisited, Kitty Gibson, a Duxbury Lane resident, said the speed limit on Maumee-Western Reserve Road, which carries U.S. 20 and State Rt. 25 from the intersection to the Fort Meigs Memorial Bridge, should be lowered to 25 mph.
City Engineer Brian Thomas said doing that would require a speed study, and any reduction in the speed limit would have to be approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation. Traffic moves fast over the bridge, Mr. Thomas said, and a speed study could show that a 50-mph limit is optimal there, not the current 45 mph much less anything lower.
“It’s not as easy as council passing an ordinance that we go and take all the signs [regulating speed] down and put new signs up,” Mr. Thomas said.
Councilman Kerry Wellstein said Maumee’s move to slow downtown traffic on its side of the bridge should be taken into consideration when Perrysburg leaders consider any future intersection changes.
“It’s interesting though all of this — I didn’t realize it was Maumee’s intention to slow traffic down, going into downtown Maumee. And that’s not going to change,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense for us to try and move traffic through that intersection to then stall.
“There’s a lot of potential for that whole area to really be done beautifully and done well,” Mrs. Wellstein added.
Some members of the informal committee against the roundabout also voiced concerns about the $4.7 million downtown improvement project, scheduled to start next year.
Deborah Born of East Front Street said the project could threaten Perrysburg’s historic designation, and people don’t want downtown Perrysburg changed.
“They love it the way it is,” she said. “I think we should keep the downtown the way it is.”
Ms. Gibson said the sidewalks downtown are in excellent condition, and trees should not be removed.
Mr. Weber said the issues are with slopes of sidewalks and parking that work against wheelchairs.
“What is the rush?” Veronica Falter of Lexington Drive asked about the downtown project.
Discussion of the downtown project started in 2018 with examination of accessibility issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Mrs. Wellstein said, and it evolved into a larger-scale improvement project.
“It’s the right thing to do, to make it accessible and inclusive for everyone,” Mrs. Wellstein said. “I have a lot of faith that this new plan is going to be something special.”
She also said she will recuse herself from voting on the project as it progresses because she owns a business and other property downtown.
First Published February 26, 2024, 11:21 p.m.
