Maumee fire station traffic details studied

10/6/2004

Maumee officials viewed the draft of a $14,300 traffic study last week designed to guide their decision on where to locate a new fire station.

The study held few surprises, mainly describing the traffic congestion around Conant Street, but offered some suggestions on how to mitigate traffic concerns if the city decides to build the fire station around the Uptown area. The study was prepared by SSOE Inc.

Maumee has been planning for years to build a station to replace the overcrowded Fire Station No. 1 on East William Street, but officials have been unable to agree on a suitable site.

The traffic study analyzed three areas:

●An area bounded by railroad tracks, West William Street, Conant Street, and Kingsbury Street.

●An area to the east, bounded by railroad tracks, East William Street, White Street, and Conant Street.

●An area on the western side of the city, bounded by Fort Street, Glenview Drive, Anderson Avenue, and Keeler Street.

The study evaluated each area based on 11 criteria, including closeness to residents, traffic delays, and closeness to the homes of fire department volunteers. In the study, each of the categories was considered equally important.

After rating each of the three areas with a point system, the area in the western part of the city came out on top because it has the least traffic congestion.

However, that site would only allow firefighters to reach 75 percent of the city within six minutes if they traveled at 35 mph. Six minutes is a desirable maximum run time, officials said. The other two sites along Conant would allow fire fighters to reach 95 percent of the city within six minutes.

The study rated the area on the east side of Conant as the worst place for a fire station because of the extreme traffic congestion. Fire Station No. 1 is on the edge of this area.