FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Ohio — Where Fairfield County connects at Refugee Road and Harmon Road is where Brandy Bayless says change needs to happen.
“I just want things to be done about that road,” she said. “It’s horrible.”
Last Friday she had just clocked out of work when her phone rang. It was the phone call every parent dreads.
“They said that he had walked out from behind a truck and another car had hit him,” Bayless said.
Her 13-year-old son Jayden was walking across Refugee Road to his girlfriend’s house when he was hit by a vehicle.
“He has a brain injury, little spots of bleeding everywhere from the impact and a fractured eye socket and a broken nose,” Bayless said.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol crash report, the driver of the 2011 Honda Odyssey says Jayden ran out in front of him with no time to react going 40 to 50 miles per hour and that Jayden did not look towards him until the last second.
The report shows Jayden trying to cross Refugee Road before the Harmon intersection. Because of that Brandy says police told her it was Jayden’s fault.
“Pretty much Jayden was jaywalking across the street and that I’d have to pay for the van to get fixed,” Bayless said.
There is a crosswalk at the Refugee and Harmon Road intersection, however, there are no sidewalks.
“There’s a school there [and] housing developments all the way down Refugee,” Bayless said. “There’s houses right there and the speed limit’s 45.”
She wants less speed and more sidewalks. While there, Thursday, one person was seen taking the same path and crossing at the same point Jayden did. Brandy doesn’t want anyone else to take the chance knowing her son is lucky to be alive.
“Yes,” she said. “Very, very lucky.”
Even though the crash happened in Violet Township, the township says Refugee Road is under the supervision of Fairfield County. The county engineer did not return calls, Thursday, to talk about possible added safety features.
The story will be updated when more information becomes available.
The family has started a fundraiser to help with costs during this time.
In a statement to 10TV Fairfield County Engineer Jeremiah Upp addresses safety concerns regarding intersections and the speed limit on Refugee Road:
The County Engineer’s Office performed a Corridor Safety Study and applied for safety funds form ODOT in 2019. The county plans to use the 2 million dollars in ODOT safety money along with 1.6 million local revenue to fund improvements to the intersection of Harmon Road, Education Drive, Milnor Road, and Pickerington Road. These improvements will include upgrade and replacing the 3 existing traffic signals for pedestrians along with night time illumination. Additionally, turn lanes will be added at all 4 intersections to handle the additional traffic this area has seen with the high growth/development. The project is scheduled for construction in 2023.
Additionally, as a result of the Safety Study, the County is making plans to widen Refugee Road to a total of 5 lanes (2 thru lanes in each direction with a center turn lane). This improvement will include sidewalks on one side and a multi-use path on the other side of the roadway. The project is planned to begin at the existing City of Pickerington Corp Limit near SR 256 and end at Pickerington Road.
The speed limits of this corridor were studied with the Safety Study in 2019. The result was the speed limit was lower to 45 mph from Harmon Road east to Saylor Road and the existing 40 mph speed limit was maintained from Harmon Road going west to SR 256, where it lowers to 35mph. As we mentioned, speed limits on County Roads are set based of an engineering study that ODOT has developed, and must be approved by them.
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