BOARDMAN TWP., Ohio - It's almost as predictable as the sunrise...
 
"224 is a busy busy road," says Boardman Township Administrator Jason Loree.
  
...slow, congested traffic along the busiest stretch of roadway in Boardman.
 
Throw a road resurfacing project into the mix, and it can make drivers just want to stay home.
Part of that project includes small barriers - what ODOT calls 'quick curbs' - devices that spokesman Ray Marsch says are there to curb a serious problem.
 
"We were seeing a lot of crashes in that area from vehicles making these left hand turns there and go over two lanes of oncoming traffic," says Marsch.
 
 
But Loree is among the Boardman township officials who worry the barriers could cause more problems than they're meant to solve.
 
 
"To be able to navigate a police or fire or EMS vehicle down that median and navigate freely with lights and sirens, that's a big thing for us to be able to get where we need to go," he said. "It does create response time issues for us."
 
 
Boardman Township trustees sent a letter to ODOT expressing concerns about the barriers at three locations between The Shops at Boardman Park and Tiffany Blvd.
 
"I think the state was trying to make it really safe for traffic but now we've got some other issues that pop up from these safety measures that we're going to have to overcome," Loree said. 
 
But ODOT insists the pros of the quick curbs outweigh the cons.
 
"If we can prevent just one crash and save one life, then it's all worth it," said Marsch.