Join NOACA at its Annual Meeting  

Register for NOACA's 2014 Annual Meeting, "The True Cost of Transportation," to be held on Friday, September 12, from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Cleveland Convention Center. The keynote address will be delivered by Scott Bernstein, president and cofounder of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, which developed the Housing and Transportation (H+T) Affordability Index. The keynote speech will be followed by a panel discussion featuring congressional representatives from the NOACA region. At the meeting, NOACA will reveal the recipient of this year's Walter F. Ehrnfelt, Jr. Award for Outstanding Regional Contribution, and present the region's first-ever Commuter Choice Awards. For more information, contact Senior Communications Specialist Gayle Godek.

ODOT to change markings and signage at West 14th Street roundabout

Have you driven the roundabout at West 14th Street in Tremont and felt uneasy about correctly traveling through it? Here's some good news: the Ohio Department of Transportation  (ODOT) will soon improve signage, pavement and lane-use markings to help motorists safely navigate the multi-lane roundabout. These changes result from a comprehensive operations and safety analysis conducted by NOACA, ODOT and the City of Cleveland. ODOT anticipates that the changes will improve routing and reduce accidents. To help drivers navigate the roundabout, NOACA has updated the video animation of the facility on its website.

NOACA will host a viewing of the Transportation Research Board webinar "Is North America Ready for the TURBO Roundabout: Development and Advantages With and Without Raised Curbs" on Wednesday, August 20, 12 noon-2 p.m. at its office. Professional engineers and surveyors can earn two hours of continuing professional development (CPD) credit for attending. Participants are welcome to bring their lunch.

The Turbo roundabout, developed in the Netherlands, features a spiraling shape with fewer motorist conflict points than a standard two-lane roundabout, and is touted as safer and easier to navigate. Turbo roundabouts have been constructed in Europe, primarily in the Netherlands. If you are interested in attending this webinar, contact Melissa Thompson.

Attend the 11th annual Conservation Symposium, "Point of No Return: Exploring Extinction," at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History on Friday, September 5, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Learn about species that are on the bubble for extinction and how humanity threatens the earth's fragile ecosystems. Discover how human actions, such as overfishing, habitat destruction and

Spiderwort, a plant native to northeast Ohio.

pollution encourage invasive species and impact organisms' health and resiliency. This year's symposium explores the implications of extinction: what has been lost, what lies at greatest risk and what can be done to stem the losses and find hope for the future. The full program includes presentations on Friday, along with field trips both Thursday, September 4, and Saturday, September 6. The 6th Annual Great Lake Erie Boat Float will also take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Cleveland Metroparks Lakefront Reservation, Edgewater Park.

NOACA is a sponsor of the symposium, and will staff a display showcasing NOACA's air and water quality planning efforts. The display will also highlight projects supported through the Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative (TLCI) in the University Circle neighborhood. For more information, or to register for the symposium, visit the museum's symposium Web page.

At their July meeting, NOACA's Board of Directors adopted a new functional classification policy and procedures for communities that seek to have a road's functional classification modified. Functional classification is the process by which streets and highways are grouped into categories according to the type of traffic service they provide. Length of the road, speed limit, number of lanes, traffic volume, and number of access points are some of the criteria that help determine a road's functional classification. Functional classification helps determine a road's eligibility for federal funding assistance. To review the new policy and the steps involved with changing a facility's functional classification, visit NOACA's website.

NOACA receives Safety Program grants

NOACA has received grants from the federal highway INVEST program and the Ohio Department of Transportation's Office of Safety to support its fiscal year 2015 Regional Safety Program. INVEST is a Federal Highway Administration online tool that transportation agencies can use to evaluate and improve the sustainability of their projects and programs. NOACA will use INVEST to evaluate its safety program, improve data analysis and produce a transportation safety action plan. This plan will focus on regional efforts to reduce fatal and severe injury crashes and will replace NOACA's biennial Crash Report.

Congestion Management Process Report identifies region's high-congestion areas 

Did you know that the most congested roadway segment in the NOACA five-county region is in Medina County? According to NOACA's newly published Congestion Management Process (CMP) report, SR-18 between River Styx Road and Rustic Hills Drive in Medina ranks as the region's most severely congested road segment.

NOACA systematically analyzes the CMP network, which consists of 2,240 miles of freeway, intechange ramps, U.S. and state routes, and local roads, to identify locations that experience persistent congestion. The results of this analysis help local officials determine where to implement a transportation improvement or congestion management strategy to alleviate congestion and enhance the overall operation of the road or travel corridor.

For this report, staff found only 38 road segments out of 2,240 to be congested. The data shows that there is less congestion in the region than in 2008, the last time the CMP network was comprehensively evaluated. The CMP report suggests that this can be attributed to the implementation of transportation improvement projects that have relieved congestion, a reduction in overall traffic, and more accurate data used for the analysis. To review the complete ranking of road segments in the CMP, as well as strategies for managing congestion, check out the complete report on NOACA's website.

Attend the 2014 Ohio Conference on Freight

Registration is now underway for "Driving Change in Global Logistics," the 8th annual Ohio Conference on Freight, to be held September 18-19 at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus. The conference will focus on the latest logistics industry trends and developments, and how demand for manufacturing and retail influences supply chains in Ohio and throughout the Midwest. Conference participants can choose from a variety of workshops, including a roundtable on metropolitan planning organization (MPO) collaboration in determining freight priorities, a presentation on the Port of Cleveland's new Cleveland-Europe Express containerized cargo service, and MPO success stories in implementing freight projects.

The conference will feature three keynote speakers, including former Ohio Congresswoman Betty Sutton, now an administrator for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. The agenda also includes the opportunity to tour either a retail distribution center or intermodal freight facility. Conference attendees must register in advance. The early bird cost for those who register by August 20 is $250.

Comment on proposed transportation projects

NOACA welcomes public review and comment on all of its federally funded programs and projects. For the next two months, descriptions of 43 proposed road, safety, traffic signal, shared use path and transit projects from Cuyahoga,  Geauga, Lake, and Lorain Counties will be available on the website for review and comment. At its October 10, 2014, meeting, the NOACA Board of Directors will consider adding these projects to the region's long-range transportation plan and getting them one step closer to receiving federal funding.