Politics & Government

Safety Forces Get Lesson on Opening Gates on Rosemont

Fairlawn, neighboring communities can get through in emergency

About 30 safety officials from neighboring communities gathered in Fairlawn Monday morning to learn how to operate a set of gates on Rosemont Boulevard that -- once put into use -- will block through traffic from using Rothrock Road.

Deputy Service Director Ernie Staten showed police and fire authorities from Bath, Copley, Akron, Summit County, the Ohio Highway Patrol and Norton how to get the gates to lift in an emergency.

"We heard the concerns . . . and we thought this would be the best way for Copley mutual aid (to get through)," Staten said.

By pressing a button on a walkie-talkie, a police officer or firefighter can activate the gate to lift up for 30 seconds. 

Another option -- for a more serious situation, when other vehicles will be arriving soon -- makes the gates stand open indefinitely.

Earlier this month, Fairlawn won a court battle with Copley Township over the right to block Rothrock to through traffic, successfully arguing the residential nature of the neighborhood would not be preserved once a Walmart and Sam's Club open on the north end of Rockrock, in Copley.

During testomony, Copley Fire Chief Michael Benson said closing Rothrock "places hundreds of our senior residents' lives in danger" by giving paramedics a longer route to Copley Place, a senior facility. 

But Staten said neither way of accessing Rothrock will mean more than a few-second delay.

On the Rosemont end, the gates open quickly, he said.

On the other end, at Sawgrass Drive, traffic will be blocked by water-filled barricades and 24 reboundable tubular pylons. Safety vehicles can drive through the pylons, which will bend and then bounce back to their original position.

"You can run these over at any speed and they will pop back up," Staten said.

Fairlawn has not yet decided when the gates will be closed and the pylons installed.

The gates have safety features like electric eyes and bounce back up if they encounter an obstruction as they close. They have a battery back-up, but also can be manually lifted by inputting a code.

Fairlawn Council President Russ Sharnsky said the purpose of the gates are to protect the residents in the neighborhoods from a surge in traffic.

"It just changes the traffic flow a little bit -- pushes it out into the streets that were designed to handle it," he said.




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