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Route 844 detours causing headaches

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Route 844 has been closed for replacement of a bridge, resulting in a long detour.

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Ken Bruner, of Brush Run Road, holds up a copy of maps he’s been handing to frustrated drivers who turn around in his driveway.

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The sign was made by Dave Dickson. It is by the Dickson farm on Foster Road, Canton Township.

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Jake the peacock was killed Wednesday by a speeding car detouring on back roads to get around a closed bridge on Route 844.

Jake was a beloved peacock kept on Dave Dickson’s farm on Foster Road in Canton Township. That is until a red sport utility vehicle hit him about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The SUV’s driver and dozens of others speeding on Foster Road are a spillover of motorists, who according to Rachelle Reihner, are ignoring posted detours to the Route 844 bridge replacement project near Route 331 in Canton.

“He exploded. There were feathers everywhere, and he was flattened,” said Reihner, who bought the bird at an Ohio auction nine years ago for Dickson.

“Our road is not part of an official detour. This is a back road for locals, not for speeding drivers who can’t find the right detour. It’s getting out of control,” she said.

The peacock’s demise prompted Dickson to put up a sign near the road that reads, “Speed + ignorance = dead Jake.”

The bridge replacement project detour added about seven miles of travel between Avella and Washington. The posted detour uses Jefferson Avenue, Route 231 (Scenic Drive), Route 50 (Avella Road) and Route 18. According to state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Valerie Petersen, the road is expected to be reopened by Sept. 30, but until then, out-of-town drivers traveling east from Wellsburg, W.Va., may end up in Ken Bruner’s driveway.

“I’ve had at least 15 people stop since the project started (Aug. 3), and that’s not counting the people that just got frustrated and turned around,” said Bruner, of Brush Run Road. Bruner said the visits became so frequent, he made dozens of copies of maps with personalized detours to give to drivers.

“The detour has added 3.2 miles to my drive to Washington, and I don’t mind that, because the bridge needs done, but the signs are so far apart they’re easy to miss,” Bruner said.

“Once a week, I go to Avella, and it’s added some time either way I go. I’ve used both the detour and back roads. It took me about 25 minutes, either way, when otherwise it takes me 15 minutes,” said James Dhayer, of Jefferson Avenue.

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