BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN -- When City Engineer Andy Braun was a summer engineering intern, one of his first jobs was helping design a project known as the Breiel Boulevard Extension.
Now, after 11 years of waiting and 500,000 cubic yards of relocated dirt, he's about ready to see the $5 million road open.
"This is likely the singlelargest new roadway construction the city will see for a long time," said Mr. Braun. "We'll have projects somewhere down the road that are more money, but we won't see much in new roadways."
The Breiel extension, to be finished by month's end, is a nearly one-mile extension of the city's thoroughfare system. The four-lane, divided highway begins where Breiel ended near Riverview Avenue and stretches across previously undeveloped land to Ohio 73.
It will be an important link -- connecting the University and Breiel boulevards area to Ohio 73 -- that leads to Interstate 75 and such northern cities as Franklin, Springboro and Dayton, Mr. Braun said.
"One particular place that has been eagerly awaiting this is Miami University Middletown, which is near the intersection of Breiel and University," Mr. Braun said.
The new road will provide a straight shot from Ohio 73 to the university's front door. About 20,000 vehicles are expected to use it daily, he said.
Carol Caudill of Springboro, an administrative assistant in Miami's student affairs office, will be in one of them. During the school year, she often encounters delays from school buses in her drive to work at Ohio 73 and Cincinnati-Dayton Road.
"I've been looking forward to being able to come down 73 to the Breiel Boulevard Extension," Mrs. Caudill said. "That will save me five to 10 minutes each way and mileage. It's a more direct route. A number of students and staff will be using that road."
Preston Combs, Middletown's director of public works, said the extension -- the last leg in the city's thoroughfare plan that includes Breiel, University, Roosevelt and Reinartz boulevards -- will be an asset to many motorists who live and travel north of town.
"The city had a great master plan years and years ago, and they stuck to it," Mr. Combs said. "It took some time, but the extension has finally happened. It will be worth the wait."
Many people don't realize the extent of that wait -- the Breiel extension was put on the city's long-range master plan 35 years ago.
Serious discussion and funding work began about 1983, but an economic recession halted plans. Mr. Braun helped with the design during his internship of 1987, it was turned over to a consultant in 1994, bids were opened in May 1997, and SK Construction Co. began the job in June 1997. Federal dollars are paying about 80 percent of the bill. Another $675,000 is being provided by the Ohio Public Works Commission. The city paid the balance of the roadwork, plus all water and sewer costs.
Because of the topography, the job required an amazing amount of earthmoving.
"There were a half-million cubic yards of dirt moved on this project -- enough dirt to fill 30 acres, 10 feet deep," Mr. Braun said.
Another major project, the $3 million resurfacing of a four-mile stretch of Ohio 73, from Ohio 4 to Cincinnati-Dayton Road, was started in late July. The project is to be completed next summer.
Traffic will be maintained.
