Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Safety work will close Ohio 73
Dangerous intersection to be rebuilt
BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CLEARCREEK TOWNSHIP — The narrow shoulders and sharp hills of Ohio 73 don't allow for driver error.
“It's a very unforgiving road,” said Dennis Pickett, Clearcreek Township administrator. “Unless you stay on your toes, once you get off the road, there are a lot of hazards.”
When the weather warms, the Warren County engineer's office plans to tackle one of the hazards — the dangerous intersection at Red Lion-Five Points Road, about a mile east of the Springboro city limits.
In the first stage, contractors will cut down trees, lower the ground along the road and move the utility lines back, Warren County Engineer Neil Tunison said.
The second stage, expected to start in April and run through late July, will close part of Ohio 73.
Construction crews will straighten the road and add a left-turn lane. The 8,000 or so vehicles that travel Ohio 73 at Red Lion-Five Points Road will have to find another route.
The intersection is one of the worst on the winding highway, Mr. Tunison said. Drivers turning west onto Ohio 73 from Red Lion-Five Points can see only 100 to 150 feet; turning east, it's 300 feet.
The minimum sight distance should be 650 feet to allow for reaction and braking time, Mr. Tunison said.
The official detour along other state routes is about nine miles. Cars heading east would take Ohio 741 south, go east on Ohio 122 and then back north on Ohio 48.
“It's really going to be a mess,” said Clearcreek Township resident Marge Wight. “But it's something that has to be done.”
Prompted by a series of accidents, Mrs. Wight has pushed for safety improvements on Ohio 73 for more than three years.
“My granddaughter wouldn't take 73 to her high school because it's such a dangerous road,” she said.
Reconstructing Red Lion-Five Points is the first in a series of safety improvements Mr. Tunison would like to see.
The crossing at Bunnell Hill Road, less than a mile from Red Lion-Five Points, is worse, he said. But improvements there likely would cost about $1 million. The Red Lion-Five Points project is estimated at $471,000. The township pitched in $100,000, while the county will pay the rest.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is studying the Bunnell Hill intersection now, Mr. Tunison said.
To address all of the safety issues on Ohio 73 at one time would be too expensive, he said.
“We realize it will take years to totally correct the road,” Mr. Tunison said. “So we're looking at doing improvements in stages.”
Is there room for strangers in our homes?
St. Louis swells for Pope's arrival
The pope's schedule
I-75 gas spill should be cleared by morning rush
Riverfront commission ready top go
Cincinnati Riverfront Advisory Commission
West plan falls short of wishes
West plan's details
Western residents, county split on development plan
Conductor Shaw called a giant of choral music
Man charged with setting home on fire
N.Ky. loses educators convention
Tax foes to battle increase for schools
Mourners make trend of wake
Actress comfy with role in 'Couch'
Colognes, perfumes can take your breath away - really
Etiquette for the over-perfumed
Ft. Washington Way closed next two nights
Hand transplanted in Louisville
2 plead guilty in slaying
Aquarium signs get attention
Beating death examined
Butler already owns favored site for jail
Covington divided over street widening
Custody war brings sea of legal paper
Developers are building 2-acre park in Blue Ash
Dogs, cats give elderly a boost
Eastgate area park-and-ride premieres
Fort Wright settles claim
Inclusion of disabled lauded
Lebanon activist's traffic-death trial to start today
Middletown sprucing up parks
Music museum picks up pace
Prison guard waives drug case hearing
Safety work will close Ohio 73
Time running out for Ky. GOP
TRISTATE DIGEST Asthma attack kills Lebanon prisoner
Trustees expected to approve contract with UC professors
