Lisa Hlavinka | The Gazette

MONTVILLE TWP. — Cobblestone Park Road is paved and nearly ready for traffic — but barriers blocking the road will stay up indefinitely, the Ohio Department of Transportation said.

The road will not become part of a four-way intersection until developers build a southbound turning lane on state Route 3 to accommodate increased traffic to the road, ODOT District 3 Planning Administrator Ken Wright said.

ODOT routinely requires developers to do a traffic study to identify any improvements needed before developers are permitted build a new access point that will generate extra traffic, Wright said.

Cobblestone Park Drive will not open until developers construct a southbound turn late on state Route 3 in Montville Township, said Ken Wright, Ohio Department of Transportation District 3 planning administrator. (Lisa Hlavinka | Gazette)

When developers were constructing Cobblestone Park Road, they and ODOT were in agreement that to obtain a permit to bring the road up to state Route 3, developers would need to build a left-turn lane, Wright said.

“The study showed that a southbound turning lane was needed for the intersection to operate safely,” Wright said. “That’s why we won’t give the permit to open it.” The barriers were put up because drivers were accessing the road before it was permitted. Right now, Cobblestone Park Drive is built up to only a few feet from state Route 3.

Montville Trustee Ron Bischof said developers have been hit by the faltering economy since plans to build the neighborhood began about five years ago.

“These are hard times and developers need cash so they can finance (construction), and they can’t do that,” Bischof said. “The money is not there right now.”

Bischof said Montville trustees have been talking with local officials and state Rep. Bill Batchelder, R-Medina, for months to open the road, he said.

Bischof is most concerned when Waite Elementary school opens in August.

“We need to get emergency vehicles in there,” said Bischof, who oversees fire response and Life Support Team in Montville.

Currently, the school is accessible only by Poe Road or state Route 162. Vehicles must snake through the winding roads of the neighborhood to get to the school.

Three to four minutes could be added to response times if emergency vehicles are required to drive through the neighborhood, Bischof said.

Residents of the new subdivision also are angry that the road remains closed and continually ask trustees when the road will be open, he said.

Wright said the road could be open before the turning lane is built if developers gave a financial guarantee to ODOT to build the turning lane shortly after the road is open.

ODOT still plans to build a traffic light at the intersection in 2010, whether or not developers construct a turning lane, Wright said.

Contact Lisa Hlavinka at (330) 721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.