Monday, September 27, 1999
Butler Regional Highway nears end of long road
Two sections will open next month
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Rodney Haines of Unicustom Inc. in Fairfield unrolls electrical cable that will power streetlights along the new Butler Regional Highway.
(Michael Snyder photo)
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From conception to completion, the Butler Regional Highway project has traveled on a road with more dips and twists than the Beast at Paramount's Kings Island.
After surmounting 30 years of red tape, controversy and lawsuits, the 11-mile highway connecting Hamilton and Interstate 75 is almost ready.
Soon, traffic will begin pounding its smooth, clean pavement.
The highway will open in three stages.
• A one-mile section from Ohio 4 to Hampshire Drive in Hamilton will open in early October.
• The one-mile segment from Cincinnati-Dayton Road to I-75 will open in late October.
• Barricades for the rest of the highway will be removed in December.
The $158 million highway is expected to ease traffic congestion in rapidly growing Butler County, make Hamilton more accessible and spur residential, commercial and industrial development.
“This project will have an incredible impact on the lives of people who live in our area,” said Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox, who advocated the highway's construction when he became a state representative in 1975. “People will have opportunities for jobs that they wouldn't have otherwise had.”
The highway is the centerpiece in a package of road improvements managed by the Butler County Transportation Improvement District (TID), a state-created agency designed to cut through red tape and design, finance and build road projects faster than the state.
Without the TID, many transportation officials say, the Regional Highway would not have been built before 2006.
The new highway will divert some traffic from such highly traveled, east-west routes as Princeton and Hamilton-Mason Roads. They have only two lanes and were not built to carry the large volume of traffic now using them.
A lot of motorists in Butler County who want to get to I-275 clog such north-south arteries in Butler County as Ohio 747 and Ohio 4. The Regional Highway will give some of them the option of driving to I-75 and heading south to I-275.
“The highway provides convenience and speed,” said Greg Wilkens, TID executive director. “People can get to where they're going a lot quicker.”
Linda Lutz, who lives near Princeton Road in Liberty Township, said she's looking forward to using the Regional Highway to go to I-75. “I just don't like 747,” she said. “It's so narrow. The Regional Highway will be more safe.”
Curtis Broughton, of Fairfield Township, said the new highway will enable him to avoid Tylersville Road when he wants to go to I-75 or I-275.
“There's quite a lot of traffic on Tylersville in the early morning and the late afternoon,” he said. “The Regional Highway will help take some of the traffic off Tylersville and Princeton Road.”
A magnet for homes
Improved access to I-75 will generate a lot of residential development, especially in Liberty Township, say developers and Butler County planners.
The highway will have entrance and exit ramps at the Ohio 4 Bypass, Ohio 747 and Cincinnati-Dayton Road. The only stoplights in the 11 miles of highway will be in Hamilton at Hampshire Drive, Fair Avenue and Ohio 4.
Most of the corridor is zoned for residential development. Liberty Township already is a hot spot for residential development, but this four-lane highway is expected to heighten its attractiveness.
“When you open a road like this, you're reducing commuter time,” said Mike Juengling, Butler County planning director. “Any time you do that and improve access to I-75, it increases the chances for residential development.”
That quick access to I-75 is just as enticing for businesses.
The success of the Union Centre Boulevard/I-75 interchange in generating development since it was built in 1997 bodes well for the development prospects, said Mark Schumacher, vice president of development for Schumacher-Dugan Construction Inc.
“With the improved access to I-75, the Regional Highway area should do well,” Mr. Schumacher said. “There's a lot of land that's valuable for residential development. They don't have a large quantity of land for commercial development, but it could go into targeted areas.”
Boost for Hamilton
The new highway could be an economic lifeline to Hamilton, the second-largest city in the nation without direct access to an interstate highway.
Hamilton officials say the Regional Highway will attract businesses into the city's new 260-acre Hamilton Enterprise Park on Hamilton-Mason Road, half a mile from the highway.
They also expect the new road to ease Hamilton residents' commutes to jobs elsewhere in Southwest Ohio.
“With the highway, you can be on I-75 in nine or 10 minutes,” said Tim Bigler, the city's economic development administrator. “It's also close to an employment base.”
It also might help revitalize Hamilton's downtown.
The highway will funnel traffic down High Street, downtown Hamilton's five-lane primary artery.
“It will have a good long-term effect on downtown,” Mr. Bigler said. “It stops the bleeding for now and allows us to do some planned redevelopment. We have a good, solid base.”
Hamilton Fixture Corp., which manufactures retail displays and store fixtures for specialty, chain and department stores, is among the city's businesses that expect a boost.
“We transport fixtures all over the country,” said Katie Flores, the company's marketing manager. “For us to have easier access to I-75 and I-275 is a bonus not just for us but also for our customers because it will reduce the costs to us and them.”
A bumpy history
The Regional Highway also has generated controversy.
It displaced 106 families and 18 businesses and cut through areas that some residents wanted to remain countryside.
TID was created by state legislation initiated by Mr. Fox. It built the highway faster than the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) would have because it was not bound by some state requirements and could compress the process involving environmental studies, engineering, design, right of way acquisition and construction.
TID is run by a board made up of the Butler County engineer and representatives of the Butler County commissioners, Hamilton, Fairfield Township, Union Township, Liberty Township and Fairfield. Representatives of Ohio and the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) are nonvoting board members.
TID receives funding from the state, Butler County and several communities; issues bonds; and enters into lease agreements with the state to pay off debts.
TID, the first such entity in Ohio, has been touted by some as a national model.
John Platt, executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority, worked on the Regional Highway when he was with ODOT.
He was so impressed with Butler County TID that he's pushing for state legislation in New York to permit TIDs.
“TIDs allow local governments to be more in control of their own destiny,” Mr. Platt said. “It's a new way to do things. Without the TID, the Regional Highway may not have been built at all.”
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