The stated purpose of the “Edgewood Road Project” is to provide a direct route from the south side of the City to the east side of the Coshocton Road retail district, specifically Knox Village Square, and east of the City.
According to the administration, not having that route creates a significant problem.
To avoid congestion on Coshocton, drivers are increasingly using neighborhood streets like Edgewood, Teryl, Marita, Stevens, Vernedale, Vernonview and New Gambier, while not designed for the purpose, as cut throughs to get to the east end of the Coshocton Avenue business district (restaurants, Lowes, the hospital, Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart, Knox Village Square), as well as the Danbury Senior Living Center, Sheriff’s Office, Knox Public Health and Apple Valley.
The problem will get worse as the City continues to expand east.
The Schlabach, Rockford Retreat and adjacent developments east of the health department will add 826 new residential units on Coshocton Road, and that doesn’t include the new fire station.
The solution is to reduce the amount of traffic on Coshocton and Edgewood Roads by creating a through street, designed for that purpose, that connects to Coshocton Road on the east side of the business district.
But NO, the administration’s answer is to reconstruct Edgewood and extend it to Coshocton Road. That WON’T SOLVE THE PROBLEM!
First and foremost, Edgewood, if extended, will connect to Coshocton on the WEST SIDE of the retail district, not the EAST SIDE.
Secondly, the Edgewood Road Project will funnel MORE, NOT LESS TRAFFIC on to Coshocton and Edgewood Roads and, in turn, adjacent neighborhood streets.
“If you build it, they will come” … but where are they going to go?
Like now, traffic using an “improved” Edgewood Road will either be going to Coshocton Avenue, the east side of the business district or further east, but with one big difference, there will be a lot more traffic!
Increasing traffic on Coshocton by extending Edgewood to Coshocton will only make the congestion on both those streets worse. As for using Edgewood to access the east end of the business district or points further east, that won’t work.
Drivers will not stay on Edgewood only to connect to Coshocton on the west side of the business district to then travel east.
To avoid the congestion on Coshocton, drivers will do exactly what they do now, USE NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS adjacent to Edgewood to get to the east side of Coshocton Avenue!
Only then, because of “improvements” to Edgewood Road, there will be more traffic using those streets and, since people going someplace generally return to where they started, that additional traffic will be multiplied times 2!
More neighborhoods destroyed, more home values lost, more lives disrupted. For what purpose, to whose benefit?
A proposed solution that fails to resolve the issue it was intended to fix and makes things worse rather than better is NOT A SOLUTION, it’s a MISTAKE! The “Edgewood Road Project” Resolution.
Please Vote “NO” on Nov. 5.
Don Carr
Mount Vernon