Old Ranch Road has two lanes and zero shoulders. During winter, it gets even tighter, explained county project engineer Mike Kendell.
“If you're driving on the north side of the road, there's the existing west grade canal, the irrigation ditch. There is basically no shoulder between that ditch and the road. That makes snow plowing a challenge,” he told the Summit County Council at its first meeting of the year Jan. 8.
Summit County earmarked funding for improvements in 2023 and will break ground this year. That includes new paved shoulders and gravel shoulders, both for winter snow removal and summer recreation.
With GPS apps sending more traffic down Old Ranch Road in recent years, residents say vehicle speed is a concern.
“It goes from 35 to 25 to 35 or vice versa, and we want a consistent speed along there,” Council Chair Tonja Hanson said on “Local News Hour.” “Our transportation department will be looking at that, and I'm assuming you'll see one speed limit — and hopefully it's 25 miles an hour.”
More traffic islands will be installed to discourage speeding, too.
The new paved trail will be on the north side of Quarry Mountain Road, paving the existing gravel trail there.
Finally, power poles along the road will be moved underground.
County staff say construction will start “as soon as weather allows.”'
Here's the link to learn more or to sign up for a project newsletter: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0c4ae73d7d0c44c694ee4a3cfa0539d2
