OMEGA releases updates to their Regional Roadway Safety Plan
What is it and what does it say about Muskingum County?
ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The Ohio Mid-Eastern Government Association has announced an updated Regional Roadway Safety Plan.
The organization better known as OMEGA is a council of local county and municipal governments that helps plan and develop economic opportunities and community improvements. The newly updated roadway safety plan analyzed crash and accident data from 8 counties, including Muskingum, Guernsey, and Coshocton.
Ben Turin, the transportation manager for OMEGA, says the next step is to bring together county engineers, the highway patrol, and schools and universities to discuss their findings.
“So that’s really the next step is for us with at the Regional Council, with a look at an 8-county footprint, starting to bring people together who don’t normally talk to each other and have the conversations about what quick wins and quick needs can be addressed. And then also taking the longer view of, okay, what larger, more expensive roadway infrastructure can we start going after now? So in the next five to 10 years, it gets built and there stops being as many crashes at hotspot locations.”
According to Turin, the regional roadway safety plan is an important step in accessing grant money to improve roadway safety.
“…the federal government has put a lot of funding out there for roadway safety ever since the bipartisan infrastructure law was passed in 2021. And it looks like in the next transportation budgeting cycle, they’re going to continue this focus on roadway safety. So the plan is also a required part of accessing those funds to show that collaboration, to show the hotspots on the roadway,” Turin said.
The regional roadway safety plan says that Muskingum County is the second-highest in the 8-county study, with 651 accidents between 2015 and 2024. The crash history screening from the plan shows that six of the top 10 road segments for accidents are found in Muskingum County.
The three worst road segments in Muskingum County are the intersections of Underwood Street and Greenwood Avenue, Taylor Street and Maple Avenue, and the intersection of Maple and Adair Avenues. This is based of the road segments Equivalent Property Damage Only (EPDO), which weighs the severity of crashes based on fatalities, injuries, and property damage.
According to the safety plan, OMEGA has set a goal of a 2% annual reduction in fatal and serious crashes, which aligns with ODOT’s goal. You can learn more about OMEGA or read the 43-page regional roadway safety plan by visiting their website.
