Friday, December 26, 2008

Valley talk ... time to find a better way in and out

The tanker crash at the bottom of the Steels Corners hill has me turning to a mental Google earth to try and find a better way for trucks to get their products to the Merriman Valley area.

The truck crashed at the dead-end of Akron-Peninsula Road, and I've already heard folks calling talk radio saying that the driver shouldn't have come that direction with sulfuric acid bound for the water treatment plant.

But if not SC Road, then where? how?

Would you want to drive a truck down the Portage Path hill? or Portage Trail hill? Dare you attempt Smith Road? How about going farther north for a dive down State Route 303 -- from either direction. Merriman Road might be the softest grade, but that means driving your big rig through Akron to get there.

I've covered a great many truck crashes on those hills .. almost always because brakes fail.

There's just no easy way in or out of the Valley, yet the restaurants and businesses that operate there need their regular commodities.

Anyone got a better idea? I think today's fatality highlights a need for some new ideas.

2 comments:

Chris H. said...

My idea ... a reverse big dig.

That's right ... fill the entire valley in with dirt.

Denise said...

Well, you did not get many comments, but my opinion is that 303 is a much better idea than Steels Corners or Bath Road...in my humble opinion.

Denise in Akron who birds in CVNP all the time...