WEST CHESTER TWP. — Gridlock on the worst-congested road in this booming suburb is getting worse, and trustees want engineers to look into easing tie-ups.

        But it may be several months and perhaps even years before relief is in sight on Tylersville Road, the main east-west thoroughfare in the northern portion of the township, engineers and township leaders say.

        Meanwhile, added congestion will come from new developments such as the Voice of America Shopping Centre expected to open next year.

        Retail giants Target and Bigg's this week filed for building permits to anchor the planned shopping center at the northeast corner of Tylersville and Cox roads.

        Tylersville Road is regularly packed with cars during rush hours and weekends, and also is a major link for Warren County residents to Interstate 75.

        “That's a nightmare all the time,” said resident Robyn Duban. “I just avoid it. But they absolutely need to do something.”

        At last week's township meeting, Trustee Dave Tacosik asked if traffic engineers could look into reconfiguring the light at Kingsgate Way and Tylersville Road, which has been backing up worse since Cox Road closed last month north of Tylersville for a seven-month widening project.

        Tylersville is especially packed in a one-mile stretch from the Meijer store just west of the I-75 interchange east to the Kohl's department store past Cox Road.

        “We may be a little guilty of overbuilding up there, but zoning has allowed that,” Trustee Dave Tacosik said.

CORRECTION

When first published, this story attributed the preceding quote to Trustee Catherine Stoker. We regret the error.

        The road is scheduled to be widened from two to three lanes west of I-75 from Wetherington Drive to Cincinnati-Dayton Road and then nearly down to Ohio 747 at Running Deer Drive in 2005.

        But widening the other side of Tylersville, which already is five lanes from the Kohl's to Meijer, east of the interchange would cost the township too much in right-of-way acquisition.

        Ten percent of all car crashes in the township occur on Tylersville Road, said West Chester Police Traffic Sgt. Barry Walker. The township overall is the scene of about 1,800 crashes a year, according to police records.

        “That's not a good thing to have that kind of number in one area,” Sgt. Walker said. “There's something there you need to look at. But our bigger problem up there is the congestion. I get calls from people who complain, not about speeders or reckless drivers, but the fact that they have sat in traffic ten minutes and haven't made it anywhere. We can sympathize because we have one or two police cars usually sitting there with them.”

        A key to easing congestion on Tylersville Road is for Butler County and Liberty Township leaders to extend Cox north of Hamilton-Mason Road toward Ohio 63 to make it parallel with I-75 and eventually connect it to the Michael A. Fox Highway for a full interchange, officials say.

        At Liberty's Monday meeting, trustees voted to pay $250,000 to the Butler County Transportation Improvement District to develop a project that includes the interchange.

        But construction on the interchange will not begin for at least two more years as the project works its way through OKI and Ohio Department of Transportation approval, Liberty Trustee Bob Shelley said.

Security scare disrupts airport
Decision near on teacher pay plan
College branches booming
Community center may be coming to Fairfield
New center will engender campus feel for college
Tylersville traffic tie-ups worsen
Arrest may change reputation
Fund-raising scandal case opens
Lebanon praises TEAM
Mediation at middle school done by pupils
Area has anti-terror money
Blunt talk from departing reformer
John L. Henderson announces retirement
KSU president defends travels
Last of soft money gifts coming in
Man accused in police standoff
Ohio joins multistate lottery this week
One dead, one missing in river rafting mishap
Pilarczyk says some abusers can be rehabilitated
State program helps high-schooler get jump on college
Street sees violence more often
Student teaches seldom heard advice: Wait for sex
Woman charged with '99 slaying
BRONSON: Dig it
Some Good News
You Asked For It
Tristate A.M. Report