Construction and business decisions came back to haunt the city of Nelsonville last night as a group of nearly 20 city council members, business owners and community members gathered to discuss traffic safety issues along U.S. Route 33.

At a special street committee meeting, attendees discussed development solutions to the unsafe access routes used by three city businesses, including Burger King, Dairy Queen and Carter Lumber.

Because drivers have to cross high-speed traffic without a turn lane to get in or out of these businesses, more than 30 car accidents have occurred during the months of May and June. All three businesses are located along the eastbound lane of Route 33.

The Ohio Department of Transportation recently declared the area as substandard and unsafe. As a result, ODOT ordered Nelsonville officials to fix the problem, but the city's biggest obstacle is money.

The committee is considering three solutions - creating a center turn lane, strategically placing traffic lights near the area or building an access road between all three parking lots, which would close the businesses' independent driveways and restrict access to one entrance.

Since then, City Manager Mark Fiorello has commissioned and received an estimate on the center turn lane option from Bischoff and Associates. The Columbus-based engineering firm reported the project would cost $733,000 to complete because of sewer and power line complications.

"The turn lane would be the least intrusive on people's properties," said City Attorney Garry Hunter.

Moreover, Council President Tom Steenrod said he is not sure if a turn lane will solve any traffic problems. "It will just add another lane for people to drive across."

After almost two hours of discussion, the committee also decided to get an estimate on the access road option.

Although business owners discussed the idea of building an access road with city council, City Manager Jim Andrick said, Nelsonville chose not to accept the plan at that time.

As a result, several affected business owners and representatives said they do not want to pay for an access road or sell part of their properties to build it at this late date.

Dave Warren, Dairy Queen's attorney, said his company told city officials access to Dairy Queen would be a problem when the Dairy Queen project was first proposed in 1991. "But no one did anything," he said.

Street Committee Chairman Clinton Stanley said he regrets not addressing the problem when businesses were being built.

"It should have gone through the planning commission, but it was inactive at that time," he said.

Tim Dishman, project manager for Burger King, said the area does not need an access road because the biggest problem is the speed of the traffic travelling through the area.

Because the speed limit drops from 55 mph to 35 mph in a short distance, Dishman said many people still are speeding in the westbound lane when they reach the businesses' area. This prevents drivers from being able to safely turn left into the businesses and turn left out of their parking lots onto Route 33, he said.

But because of other unknown factors, like traffic volume and accident patterns, he proposed that the city request a traffic survey. Committee members agreed to the proposal and Fiorello said he plans to contact a ODOT traffic specialist.

Dishman also said setting speed traps and erecting a traffic light would greatly reduce the number of accidents in the area.

However, Fiorello said Nelsonville might not be able to afford a light, which costs between $110,000 and $120,000. Committee members and business representatives also disagreed on where to put the traffic light, even though Dishman offered to pay for a light in front of Burger King.

"It will help all (other businesses), but it would help us the most. I don't deny that," he said.

But resident Don Allen said a traffic light would only compound the traffic problem during rush hour, congesting Route 33 to a standstill. As a compromise with other attendees, he proposed using a temporary traffic light in several different areas to gauge how a permanent light would affect flow of traffic.

The majority of the participants agreed with Allen's idea, but the committee decided against it because a temporary traffic light would be too expensive, Fiorello said.

In the end, Stanley said he just wants the city to do something to solve the problem.

"I'm sick and tired of seeing so many accidents," he said. "I just want to fix the problem before somebody gets killed."