News

Traffic trouble: Neighborhood concerned after family pet death, cyclist injured

Posted: Jul 16, 2015 / 06:36 PM EDT

Updated: Jul 16, 2015 / 06:42 PM EDT

Posted: Jul 16, 2015 / 06:36 PM EDT

Updated: Jul 16, 2015 / 06:42 PM EDT

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio – After a bicyclist was injured and a family pet killed by passing cars, neighbors living on Brookway Drive are complaining about a recent influx of traffic and speeders.

Fairview Park Police said the closure of nearby Mastick Road has led some people, mostly Fairview Park residents, to use Brookway as a short cut to detour around the closure. Police estimated the amount of traffic has doubled, turning a usually-quiet 25 mile per hour street into a busy thoroughfare.

“These people think it’s not Brookway, it’s Brook Raceway, and we gotta do something about it,” neighbor Cliff Ramey said.

Wednesday, police said a bicyclist was stopped in the roadway, located near the MetroParks, when a driver hit him. Police said speed was not a factor, but sun glare was. The bicyclist was taken to the hospital but was expected to survive. On Saturday, a family’s dog, Hershey, ran out of its house and was hit and killed by a driver who kept going, police said.

“It’s awful,” said Hershey’s owner, Alejandro Giraldo. “Your pets are a member of your family… it’s as if a child were hit and killed by a car.”

The incidents have put neighbors on high alert. Fairview Park Police placed a speed trailer along the roadway to alert drivers of their speeds, and neighbors have put up their own signs warning drivers to “slow down.” Police said they’ve stepped up speed enforcement in the area, citing 2 drivers and issuing 21 warnings since Tuesday.

“Sheer volume, not so much speed all the time, but sheer volume is a big concern,” Fairview Park Police Lt. Paul Shepard said. “Families live here, children live here, and we will enforce the traffic ordinances of the city.”

Fairview Park Mayor Eileen Ann Patton said the city has presented plans for repairs to Mastick Road to Cuyahoga County and is hoping for approval to begin work on the county road by late July. Repairs to a washed-out section are expected to take six weeks, she said, meaning the road will likely remain closed through mid-September.