Thursday, January 28, 1999
Fix on way for tie-ups at Towne, 122
Expansion to begin in July
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — The traffic snarls at the Ohio 122/Towne Boulevard intersection jangle nerves, strain patience and cause motorists to take dangerous risks to avoid waiting for another green light.
“I live only five minutes away from here on good days. On bad days, I live 15-20 minutes away from here,” Peggy DelDuca said as she took a break from her job as head cashier at Lowe's in Middletown Crossings. “Sometimes it's so frustrating.”
Sonja Gross, a supervisor at Hardee's on Towne Boulevard, shares those feelings. “You leave here tired and wanting to go home, and you're held hostage by the traffic lights. They need to do something.”
The ransom is about to be paid. A $1.2 million upgrade of that intersection in the Warren County part of Middletown will start in July and should cure many of the ills, said Andy Braun, city engineer.
The traffic congestion has long been a nightmare for people who live, work and shop in the area. Merchants say their businesses have suffered because of the traffic mess, especially because there are few alternate routes.
“This area has been a problem for years,” Mr. Braun said. “It was a pretty full intersection and just short of capacity before Middletown Crossings was built (in 1994). Middletown Crossings didn't cause the problem, but that is what pushed it beyond its capacity.”
Peak traffic counts were 4,200 at 5-6 p.m. weekdays and 4,300 Sunday afternoon in the last study in 1996. That's likely increased by 5 percent each year, Mr. Braun said.
Liz Kemplin, a lifelong resident who has worked at a Towne Mall store since the mall opened in 1977, has watched the traffic problems evolve.
“The traffic has gone from practically nothing to almost like being in Cincinnati,” said Ms. Kemplin, a sales representative at Rogers Jewelers. “I hate it. I've sat through three or four lights trying to get through the intersection. This traffic mess has gone on way too long. And it's dangerous.”
Mr. Braun said city officials have recognized the need since Middletown Crossings went in. And because major improvements are necessary, the city has worked with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to find solutions. A lack of funding has delayed the work.
“We just don't have a million dollars sitting around,” Mr. Braun said. “That's the equivalent of our entire capital improvement program budget for each of the last few years.”
A $638,000 local transportation improvement funds grant is making the project possible now, he said. Warren County is paying about $135,000 for engineering and $70,000 construction costs. ODOT will install the new traffic light at the Interstate 75 ramp.
The project includes adding a turn lane on all four legs of the intersection — three right-turn and one left-turn lane from westbound 122 into Middletown Crossings. The existing left-turn lane into the Crossings will be lengthened. That requires removing the merge lane from southbound Interstate 75 and putting a traffic signal at the end of the ramp, to avoid traffic trying to come directly off the interstate and weaving into the proper lane only a few feet before the intersection.
George Young of Lebanon said he usually ends up “waiting for a long time to get through here. It gets dangerous,” he said, because motorists rush to make the lights and make illegal right turns out of Middletown Crossings onto Ohio 122.
Mr. Braun agreed that impatient motorists make the area risky. He had no recent accident figures but said while wrecks are high there, the number isn't more than at other busy intersections in the city.
Most everyone welcomed the news of the upgrade, but some said they dread the construction period.
The goal is to have most of the work finished by the Christmas holiday period. The city will try to minimize the disruption, but motorists will still need patience, Mr. Braun said.
Ms. DelDuca said the construction can't come too soon for her. “It would be wonderful to avoid all the traffic back-up and waiting around.”
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