Chagrin Corridor Traffic Patterns Under Study

The should receive the results of a Chagrin Boulevard traffic management study and a master plan this summer.

The plan, contracted in mid-April at $49,500 to GPD Group, will take almost four months to complete.

As one of the main points of entry to Interstate 271 from Beachwood’s office districts as well as the Heights suburbs, Chagrin Boulevard in Beachwood is one of the most congested — and most complained-about — thoroughfares on the East side.

The Eaton World Headquarters, which is expected to be complete in 2013, is expected to bring 900 extra cars to Beachwood every day, according to minutes from a March Safety & Public Health Committee meeting.

And the rest of the Chagrin Highlands is expected to fill up as auxiliary businesses — — claim parcels to take advantage of the additional potential customers dining, working out and staying near Eaton.

GPD has gathered car counts and timing data from several intersections along Chagrin Boulevard and Bryden, Green and Richmond roads. GPD also took into account 2008 data gathered by the city for intersections on Chagrin Boulevard between Orange Place and Green Road.

The final report will include a 20-year master plan for the Chagrin Boulevard corridor that takes into account current traffic and predicts traffic volume from incoming projects and potential development.

Among the possibilities the group studied is closing Bryden Road at Richmond Road and removing the traffic signal; and evaluating the possibility of allowing only right turns from southbound Enterprise Parkway to Chagrin Boulevard.

We will publish the report as soon as it is available.