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If you’ve ever driven on Tallmadge Road near Interstate 76 in Brimfield or on Route 14 in Streetsboro during rush hour, if won’t be a surprise to learn that those two stretches made a list of most congested roadways in the Greater Akron area.
AMATS — the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study — compiled a report to assess traffic congestion on road segments located on interstates, freeways, interchanges, ramps, arterials and various intersections within Portage and Summit counties and parts of Wayne County.
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Out of 7,100 segments analyzed, the report found that only 23 segments experience severe congestion at various times during the day. Nineteen of the 23 segments are in Summit County while two are in Portage County and two are in Wayne County.
The most severely congested roadway in the report is the Interstate 271 southbound off-ramp connector to Route 8 in Macedonia during the hours of 3 to 7 p.m. Macedonia is in Summit County, west of Aurora.
Which Portage roads are included on the list?
The two roadways in Portage County to make the list are Tallmadge Road between Cascades Boulevard and 2,140 feet west of the Interstate 76 interchange in Brimfield between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Route 14 west of the Route 43 intersection in Streetsboro between 3 and 7 p.m. Those are number 17 and 18 on the list.
AMATS Transportation Designer Farhad Ahmadzai says that the agency calculated congestion based on average travel speed of vehicles on segments, the average free flow speed of vehicles travelling unhindered on segments, and vehicle hours of delay.
The East Bartges Street eastbound lane through the South Main Street Interchange in Akron and the West Avenue eastbound link to Tallmadge Circle in Tallmadge are second and third on the list of segments experiencing severe congestion. These segments experience severe congestion during the peak evening drive-time.
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By community, the cities of Akron and Tallmadge each have five locations identified as experiencing severe congestion at various times during the day. Other communities with multiple listings are Macedonia with three locations and Hudson with two locations.
The report also lists roadways with moderate congestion including several stretches in Ravenna, such as parts of East and West Main Street; sections of Route 14 and Route 43 in Streetsboro; parts of Route 14 in Ravenna Township; and sections of East Garfield Road in Aurora. Only one Kent roadway was included on the moderate list — East Main Street east between Water Street and DePeyster Street.
About the AMATS report
AMATS used a software analytics platform that tracks vehicle movements. Congestion estimates for segments were calculated over a five-month period spanning March through August 2021.
Ahmadzai says that the report is the first of its kind to be compiled by the agency and will be updated on an annual basis. He notes that congestion is not only an inconvenience to motorists, but also raises safety concerns for commuters on their trips to work, school, and other daily activities. Traffic delays also have negative impacts on air quality, the economy, and the timely delivery of goods and services.
The agency plans to use the report and its future editions to identify long-term regional congestion trends as part of its oversight of the area’s Congestion Management Process. The report will help AMATS to identify and plan congestion-improvement projects throughout the region.
“We want to maximize the service life of our existing transportation system through congestion management. Maintaining the existing level of service and reducing severe congestion is one of the main goals of this report and the CMP,” Ahmadzai said.
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