Plans were made to make changes to a dangerous Medina County road, but some businesses in the area fought back.
The Ohio Department of Transportation was going to install a guardrail down the middle of a 5-mile stretch of State Route 18 to prevent accidents, but after pushback from local business, they've reconsidered.
Julie Bennett, the owner of Bennett's, explained that many family businesses along SR 18 have been there for years.
"We've been here since the 70's," she said.
Bennett told NewsChannel 5 many depend on this traffic to stay in business, so when the state talked about a plan to change that, by installing a guardrail, down the 5-mile stretch, small businesses fought back.
"It will inconvenience people to the point where they don't want to stop here, maybe not even go down this route," Bennett said.
She joined up with other small business owners, like Matt Snyder of High and Low Winery, and met with ODOT.
"They did listen to us and other people who voiced concerns," Snyder said.
The state decided to reconsider the project, but this road is still considered dangerous. There have been 476 crashes and nine deaths there since 2008, so ODOT will do something.
"It's more or less a coming together, to work with everyone, while recognizing that safety is the paramount concern," Snyder said.
"It's more or less a coming together, to work with everyone, while recognizing that safety is the paramount concern," he said.
ODOT has added more signs on SR 18 to alert drivers. A spokesman told NewsChannel 5 they will also add rumble strips, raised markers, and road resurfacing.
If those changes don't make a difference, he said they may have to reconsider the guardrail.
