Saturday, December 04, 1999

Butler Co. wins largest slice of state road funds

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$27M coming for Trenton Bypass

BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        COLUMBUS — Traffic congestion should ease near the Miller Brewing Co. in Butler County with the help of $27.7 million from state highway funds.

        Metro bus passengers, meanwhile, will get a transit center in Northside.

        Butler County was the big winner of Ohio's 2004 highway funds that the Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) announced Friday.

        TRAC approved $27.7 million for the $41.9 million Trenton Bypass; the rest of the money would come from local sources. Metro got $2.7 million to pay for the $3.7 million Knowlton's Corner Transit Center. Metro already has $1 million in place from federal and local sources.

        The two Southwest Ohio projects were among 11 projects that got $89.3 million for construction in fiscal year 2004.

        “As a region, we did well,” said Jim Duane, executive director of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI).

PAVED WITH GOLD

The state announced it will contribute $89.3 million to 11 construction projects for fiscal year 2004. The projects:   • Ohio 63 extension, Trenton bypass, in Butler County. Total: $27.7 million.   • Knowlton's Corner Transit Center in Cincinnati. Total: $2.7 million.   • Bypassing a downtown rail crossing in Versailles in Darke County. Total: $4.4 million.   • Multimodal transit center in downtown Columbus. Total: $13.1 million.   • Resurfacing Interstate 90 in Lorain County from the Ohio Turnpike to Ohio 83, and widening I-90 from Ohio 611 to Ohio 83. Total: $1.3 million.   • Adding a lane on Interstate 71 in Richland County from the Morrow County line to Ohio 97. Total: $3.5 million.   • Interchange upgrade at I-80 and Ohio 46 in Mahoning County. Total: $8.5 million.   • Moving U.S. 250 in Harrison County. Total: $4 million.   • Widening U.S. 20 from Mentor County line to Fern Road in Painesville in Lake County. Total: $7.7 million.   • Moving Brookpark Road and the Interstate 480/Grayton Road interchange in Cuyahoga County. Total: $12.6 million.   • New interchange at Interstate 77 in Stark County. Total: $3.8 million.

        Butler County is still finalizing designs for a Trenton Bypass, but the county is looking at a controlled-access highway from Ohio 4, at a point near Ohio 63, to U.S. 127, north of Seven Mile. There's traffic congestion in the area, which is home to Miller Brewing and other companies. Large trucks make up 40 percent of the traffic, making it dangerous for residents.

        “It will relieve congestion on surrounding roads, create a better transportation environment for Miller Brewing and other industries, and provide safer access to Oxford and Miami University,” said Dean C. Foster, Butler County engineer. Construction could start as early as 2003.

        The Knowlton's Corner Transit Center in Northside will consolidate Metro's second-biggest transit point into a park-like plaza where Hamilton and Spring Grove avenues come together, said Paul Jablonski, Metro's general manager.

        Now, 1,600 people board or transfer buses in Northside every day at about a half-dozen bus stops scattered around Hamilton and Spring Grove ave nues. It leaves some people to dart across traffic to catch their next bus.

        Although the money is allocated for 2004, the project could get state money earlier and be built by 2003.

        Also Friday, Greater Cincinnati received $5.3 million for 2001 to continue studying two projects: $2.3 million to study widening Interstate 75 in Butler County between Ohio 129 and Ohio 122, and $3 million to continue studying the Ohio portion of proposed light rail from downtown Cincinnati to Paramount's Kings Island.

        Two other local projects could receive money later. One would improve Ohio 63 in Butler County, between Oxford and Monroe. The second is a $22.4 million new interchange off Interstate 75 south of Ohio 63 in Monroe, called the Kyles Station interchange. That interchange would serve a proposed megamall in Monroe.

        Among projects that didn't get state money or the state's attention for future funds this year:

        • An $11 million widening of River Road between Mount Echo Road and Fairbanks Avenue. TRAC request: $3 million. The project was ranked first on OKI's list.

        • A $10.3 million project that includes widening the New Haven Road bridge over Interstate 74 in Hamilton County to six lanes, widening off-ramps and widening New Haven Road. TRAC request: $8.4 million.

        • Widening two-lane Montgomery Road to five lanes from Weller Road to just south of the Little Miami National Scenic River. Construction on the nearly 7-mile stretch would cost $50.1 million. TRAC request: $49 million.

        • A $60 million widening of Ohio 73 from Ohio 741 to Interstate 71. TRAC request: $60 million ultimately; $3.5 million initially.

        TRAC's nine members, who represent different areas of the state, use a formula that scores factors such as traffic accident rates, congestion, average daily traffic and economic development. They also consider how local planning agencies, such as OKI, rank the projects.

        Ohio adopted the TRAC system in 1997 in an attempt to cut down on political jockeying for state highway money.

        The TRAC list released Friday is considered a draft, and the public will have four months to comment on it. Comments will be taken Dec. 15 through April 15. Send them to: TRAC Coordinator Michael Cull, c/o ODOT, 1980 W. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43223. After the comments are considered, TRAC will vote again on the list.

Funds OK'd for Trenton bypass

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