By Marci Piltz
Record-Courier staff writer
A Ravenna man died early Wednesday in a crash at an intersection many residents consider one of the most dangerous in Portage County.
Gary N. Cline, 44, was pronounced dead at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna shortly after the 6:46 a.m. crash at the intersection of S.R. 5 and New Milford Road.
According to the Ravenna Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol, which is investigating the crash, the vehicles involved were a motorcycle and a sport-utility vehicle.
The patrol said Cline was driving a 1981 Harley Davidson motorcycle. He was headed westbound on S.R. 5, the patrol said, when another vehicle pulled out of New Milford Road into Cline's path.
The driver of the other vehicle, a 2001 Chevy Blazer, was Catherine A. Paulus, 42, of Rootstown. Paulus was not injured in the crash, the patrol said, though her vehicle suffered heavy damage to the entire right side when it rolled onto its side after the crash.
According to the patrol, Cline's motorcycle collided with the right front fender of the SUV, causing Cline to be ejected from his bike. The motorcycle then burst into flames, the patrol said.
The patrol said Wednesday neither alcohol nor drugs are suspected to have played a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation.
The Ohio Department of Transportation will be holding a public meeting July 22 to present proposed traffic improvements to two intersections, including the one at S.R. 5 and New Milford Road. The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna and will address safety improvement alternatives.
The other intersection to be discussed is the one at S.R. 14, S.R. 59 and Newton Falls Road, also called Cotton Corners.
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E-mail: mpiltz@recordpub.com
Phone: (330) 296-9657