Saturday, December 04, 1999
Funds OK'd for Trenton bypass
Link offers I-75 access
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The news Friday that the multimillion-dollar Trenton Bypass has won preliminary state funding approval was welcomed by community leaders and businesses.
“We're very pleased that the project received funding,” said Trenton City Manager Melvin P. Ruder. “There's been a lot of hard work go into it by a lot of people. This is really important to this area.”
The new road is to alleviate major congestion in the area, provide access to Interstate 75 and allow for smart land-use planning for growth, officials said.
“We've been talking about this project at least 20 years. It was part of the agreement, with then-Gov. James Rhodes (in 1979) to get the Miller Brewing Co. here,” Mr. Ruder said.
Butler County led the way in getting Ohio's 2004 highway money, announced Friday by the Transportation Review Advisory Council: : $27.7 million for the $41.9 million Trenton Bypass that will run near Miller. The balance will come from local funds.
That project was among 11 receiving $89.3 million for construction in fiscal year 2004. The work could begin by mid-2003. In Cincinnati, Metro got $2.7 million toward the $3.7 million Knowlton's Corner Transit Center.
Final plans are months away, but Butler County is looking at a controlled access highway to run between Ohio 4, at a point near Ohio 63, to U.S. 127, north of Seven Mile, said Dean Foster, county engineer.
Mr. Foster said that since Miller was unable to go into full production when it opened in early 1980, the need for the bypass was greatly reduced. Now, with Miller going full steam, the need is great.
The new highway is also important to other areas and businesses, he said. “The lack of highway access was not only choking Miller from expanding and providing more jobs to the area, but also choking other businesses ... from being able to
expand and bring more jobs.” He cited Magnode Corp., Xerox Corp., Worthington Industries and Dickerson Distributing Co. “So this is just not for one company or area. It benefits many.”
Sandra Lewis, Miller Brewing community affairs manager, said the expectation of the new highway has already prompted improvements at Miller.
“Yes! Yes!” Mrs. Lewis said upon hearing that the funding had been approved. “We are ecstatic. This is very exciting news.”
In anticipation of the highway, Miller hired 100 employees this past summer when it went to a continuous operation — 24 hours a day, seven days a week, she said.
The company, which brews, packages and ships all Miller products, has been in full production since 1991.
The bypass will help many local businesses, Mrs. Lewis said.
Mr. Ruder said the bypass will provide access to Interstate 75 from the city's southern boundaries.
“And it will alleviate traffic problems we have with large trucks at this time, which will only compound in the future as industry expands in the area,” Mr. Ruder said. “It could also open the area up for development, and will alleviate a very dangerous section of Ohio 73 that is just west of Trenton.
Monroe officials are delighted with the news.
“We've been very active with the county engineer and their consultant, and we had people on the committee that's been working for this as it's been coming togther,” said Monroe City Manager Donald Whitman.
“Motorists and local businesses will see a vast improvement in the road system,” Mr. Whitman said.
Mr. Foster said the configuration for the bypass has not been decided. Several variations of two primary options are being studied.
“We will have a public meeting sometime in January or February to narrow these down. The final, feasible alignment alternative probably won't be determined until the middle of the summer.” Construction will start no earlier than July 2003 and will take two construction seasons, Mr. Foster said.
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.
Tanya Albert contributed to this report.
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