According to ODOT, rumble stripes are on the edge line or center line and are the width of the line while rumble strips are cut across the entire roadway surface.
Work to add the stripes to the section of Troy Road from Miller Road to the eastern limit of North Hampton, without reducing pavement quality, was completed on Monday.
“The centerline rumble stripes have been installed and the pavement has been re-striped with paint,” ODOT officials said.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
The stripes were requested by Northwestern Local School District resident Jessica Wilson, who began the initiative to have them installed in the center of Troy Road after a school bus accident over the summer took the life of 11-year-old Aiden Clark and injured more than a dozen others.
“I am happy to see the installation of the rumble stripe on Route 41. It is another way to help keep our roads safe,” said Northwestern Superintendent Jesse Steiner.
Dept. of Transportation officials said “this updated safety feature will provide increased awareness for motorists traveling along SR 41. At the time of the route’s last resurfacing project in 2016, ODOT’s design standards did not prescribe the installation of center line rumble stripes; however, there are rumble stripes along the exterior shoulders through this section of roadway.”
Wilson’s son Liam, a sixth grader at Northwestern, was a passenger on the school bus during the Aug. 22 fatal crash.
That morning, a 2010 Honda Odyssey, driven by Hermanio Joseph, 35, went left of the center line and into the path of an oncoming Northwestern school bus with 52 students and the driver aboard.
The bus driver tried to avoid the Honda by driving onto the shoulder, but the bus still collided with the minivan. The bus and van went off the side of the road, with the bus rolling over and coming to rest on its top.
Clark was ejected and died at the scene. Another student suffered life-threatening injuries but was later released from the hospital, and nearly two dozen of the other students on the bus sustained injuries that sent them to hospitals in the region.
Joseph, who is charged with fourth-degree felony vehicular homicide and first-degree felony involuntary manslaughter, and a passenger in the minivan had non-life threatening injuries and were transported to Mercy Health-Springfield.
While taking Liam to school, Wilson said she and her son have seen multiple people cross the center line because they are on their phone, putting on makeup or not paying attention. After driving on a different road one day and noticed the rumble stripes on the center line, she decided to start the initiative to get some on Ohio 41.
To start this request, Wilson reached out to German Twp. Trustee Rodney Kaffenbarger, who supported the initiative and guided Wilson to ODOT district 7.
Wilson previously said she is grateful and thankful for everyone who supported the initiative for rumble stripes, spread the word and reached out to ODOT. She said the rumble stripes won’t prevent everything, but there’s one less chance of a tragedy happening if it stops one person from going left of center.
“Seeing the relief and excitement on my son’s face when I told him we’re getting rumble strips made my momma heart so happy,” Wilson said previously. “It may not mean the same to others as it does for us, but we never felt nothing less than support and love.”
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