Safety forces stretched due to construction zone crashes

by Dan Holland

For the Richfield Village Fire Department and Police Department, ongoing construction work along Interstate 77 through the municipality has caused a notable increase in safety forces being dispatched to motor vehicle accidents, sometimes including multiple responses within a single day.

According to Fire Chief George Seifert, the department has responded to nearly 50 accidents, including a dozen victim medical transports, on the stretch of highway since work to add a third lane in each direction began in late March. The department typically responds to approximately 20 accident calls on the highway in any given year, he noted.

“People are speeding and not paying attention in the construction zone, and they end up rear-ending another vehicle,” said Seifert. “That’s a tight area right now; they drift over and hit the Jersey wall and then end up hitting another vehicle.”

“They’re putting new lanes in the middle of I-77 that will go all the way to Akron eventually; right now, they’re working in Richfield,” explained Police Chief Michael Swanson. “Most of the accidents are usually fender-benders, but they can get pretty twisted up in there at times with a lot of vehicle damage.” 

“Then, you’ll get drivers in the northbound lanes looking over at an accident, and they’ll end up in an accident by rubbernecking,” he added. 

The police department has responded to more than 100 motor vehicle crashes on the stretch of highway since late-March, according to Swanson.

Due to lane restrictions and concrete barriers set in place, fire department vehicles can sometimes encounter challenges in accessing an accident site.

“Depending on where the accident is, it can be challenging to get to, because the traffic piles up, and then we can’t get through,” Seifert explained. “At times, we’ll have to go the opposite way and head south on the northbound lanes to be able to get to an accident, which delays our response time.”

Police typically arrive on the scene first.

“The police are very good about telling us which way to approach from, as they’re often caught in the traffic just like we are,” said Seifert. “So, we may have to shift from getting on at Wheatley Road, and turn around and get on at the Turnpike or Brecksville Road and cut across.” 

The fire department often enlists mutual aid assistance from Bath and Brecksville and the police department will sometimes call for assistance from the Ohio State Highway Patrol when tied up with other emergency calls.

The increase in responses has led to additional overtime expenses for both departments.

“It’s added a little more overtime than normal, just due to the volume of calls,” said Seifert. “It’s not been a huge amount, but it does add to the overtime costs to have guys come in and back-fill the station while we’re tied up on the highway.”

“We may get some overtime where the guys have to hold over for an extra hour to finish up a report, but they can always complete that on their next shift,” said Swanson. “We’ve had some additional overtime, but it’s not been significant.”

Mayor Michael Wheeler said the hiring of two additional firefighter/EMS personnel has allowed for staffing of three shifts of four. Subsequently, a decision was made in December 2023 to cap annual overtime pay at $175,000 versus the $230,000 requested by Seifert. 

“I have a needs-based budget, and I thought that was what we needed, and my budget is pretty tight,” said Wheeler. “But what we didn’t foresee was the number of accidents that we’ve encountered since the first of the year.”

To reduce the need for overtime and part-time staff, the administration is considering increasing the fire crews to five members per shift. “Council will decide if they want to go to crews of five or stay with the overtime model. But either way, we’re going to cover the shifts,” said Wheeler. Construction on the lane additions is expected to continue until the summer of 2026.