Heath's goal: Improve safety at Super Cruise event

• Super Cruise crowd estimated to be at least 8,000 spectators and up to 3,000 Mopar cars last year.
• Mopar Nationals attendance Aug. 8-10 at National Trail expected to be about 30,000-50,000.

HEATH – Spectators attending the annual Super Cruise will be kept a safe distance away from Mopar cars parading down Hebron Road next weekend.

Heath Mayor Mark Johns and Police Chief John Mason said they had to take action to rein in what has become an out-of-control event following Mopar Nationals at National Trail Raceway in Hebron.

City officials, frustrated with the behavior of Super Cruise spectators and some motorists, will limit traffic Aug. 8 and 9 to one lane in each direction between Hopewell Drive and Andover Road.

A young woman struck by a Chevrolet pickup at the 2012 Super Cruise was not seriously hurt, but the mayor said he worries a tragedy will occur.

"We have to try something to make this event safer," Johns said. "My fear is a car gets the throttle stuck doing burnouts and peeling out into people watching the event.

"I don't believe it's a question of if, but a question of when. We're creating a buffer between the crowd and traffic."

The right lane of southbound Hebron Road will be closed from just south of Hopewell to just north of Andover Road/Oberlin Drive, at the end of the Econo Lodge property.

Northbound traffic will be limited to one lane from north of Oberlin to near Papa Johns Pizza, where turn lanes begin. An alternate route is Hopewell Drive to Ohio 13 to Irving Wick Drive, the mayor said.

"This is the stretch of road with the highest concentration of spectators and greater number of burnouts taking place and spectators can be very close to the roadway," Johns said.

The event, anticipated only for Saturday night, expanded to Friday night a few years ago. The crowd, estimated to consist of at least 8,000 spectators and up to 3,000 Mopar cars last year, takes over the business district, creating gridlock.

Mason replaced Chief Tony Shepherd, a race car driver in his leisure time, in April.

"I feel we've been a little too lenient in the past," Mason said. "Appropriate enforcement action will be taken this year.

"Last year started with two (lanes) and we knocked it down to one lane because it got so bad, so quickly. We were in a reactive mode."

The new chief said he has a different view on some things than his predecessor, but changes to the Super Cruise also had been contemplated by Shepherd.

"I will readily admit his philosophy and mine are not the same, but he agrees this event is not what it was meant to be," Mason said.

"Local enthusiasts chose to become part of the problem. It's becoming dangerous. We'll take some steps to let people know that activity will not go on."

Police issued 30 verbal warnings and 23 citations for the two nights last year. The citations included drunken driving, street racing and failure to maintain assured clear distance. Police also have cited drivers doing burnouts.

Citations also could be distributed for throwing water on the road, encouraging burnouts, consumption of alcohol in parking lots open to the public, hood engines obscuring the view of drivers, missing hoods or bumpers, or no tread on tires.

"Officers have been met with outright aggression, bottles and rocks thrown at them and (police) cars damaged," Mason said. "It's gotten to the point my officers don't feel safe."

If the lane restrictions don't improve safety, additional steps could be taken in the future, the chief said.

"We've discussed temporary fences," Mason said. "Lots of things have been discussed, but they're drastic and not what we want to employ."

The massive crowds don't necessarily translate into increased business, officials said.

One year, Mason said, Ruby Tuesday employees were outside the restaurant during the cruise because customers could not reach the restaurant through packed streets and parking lots. The restaurant eventually closed early that night, he said.

Giant Eagle hired a firm last year to make sure only its customers parked in the lot, Mason said.

When the hotel, Econo Lodge, closed, drivers did burnouts in the walkway between buildings, spewing debris and and damaging the roof.

"We've got to clean it up and make it more safe," Mason said. "They've proven to us they can't do it on their own. Businesses we've contacted don't want (people who aren't customers) on their lots."

National Trail Raceway Manager John Fornataro said the Super Cruise has changed dramatically from what it started out as about a decade ago.

"I share the mayor's concern, and that's safety," Fornataro said. "Mopar Nationals is what we do at National Trail Raceway, and this (Super Cruise) is something else.

"There's a strong sense of community among Mopar enthusiasts. The Licking County community has embraced them."

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8545

Twitter: @kmallett1958