WEST CHESTER TWP. — Rapid development and the completion of a link to Fairfield has brought so much traffic to one of Butler County's newest arteries that it's on the verge of being declared a failed road — meaning costly improvements may be needed sooner than anyone expected.

        Union Centre Boulevard, which winds through the township's new commercial kingdom, is jammed with 44,000 vehicles a day just west of the Interstate 75 interchange. And the burden on the four-lane highway, built just five years ago, is expected to grow dramatically as more property is developed.

Union Centre Boulevard in West Chester Township is handling more than 40,000 cars a day. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        “I don't think Union Centre received a failing grade yet, but it's quickly reaching that level,” said Dale Schwieterman, an engineering manager with the Butler County Engineer's Office. “They didn't expect it to generate this kind of traffic this quick. It's really been kind of shocking. I wouldn't say it's poor planning. As these developments come along they are going to have to increase the capacity out there.”

        In general, a failing road carries more cars than it was designed for, Mr. Schwieterman said. A capacity figure for Union Centre Boulevard was not available Monday.

        The engineer's office is paying $8,500 for a study to recommend if the road, which opened at I-75 in November 1997, should be widened or if there will be a need for more turn lanes or light reconfigurations.

        In addition to the heavy traffic burden at I-75, at least 25,000 vehicles use the intersection of Union Centre Boulevard at Muhlhauser Road, according to the engineer's office. And with 1,000 acres developed out of 3,000 available, more traffic is inevitable.

        By comparison, 53,486 cars travel Tylersville Road, one of the Tristate's worst congested thoroughfares, at I-75 daily. Union Centre's traffic is comparable to the 40,000 cars a day traveling development-packed Mason-Montgomery Road at Fields Ertel off I-71 in Warren County.

        The traffic study, being conducted by CDS Associates Inc. of Blue Ash, won't be complete for at least 90 days. John Pagano, the traffic operations manager heading up the study, said Monday it's too soon to discuss possible recommendations.

        Trustees say they knew the road eventually would need improvements but they couldn't afford to build a bigger road.

        Money from a tax increment-financing district in the area will be used to pay for the road improvements, said Judith Carter, assistant administrator.

        “We expected this to happen and hoped we would get the traffic to justify the improvements. This is all in the plan,” said Trustee Catherine Stoker. “We put in what we could afford to get the development to then provide income for the improvements.”

        High-profile commercial development has boomed far beyond anyone's projections along the Union Centre corridor off I-75 in the past five years, said Joe Hinson, president and chief executive officer of the Southeastern Butler County Chamber of Commerce.

        The remaining 2,000 acres for development are expected to fill up within five to 10 years as Union Centre Boulevard increases its prominence as a hub between Cincinnati and Dayton. Since the interchange opened, more than $200 million in business investment has exploded in the area, according to Schumacher Dugan Construction Inc., one of Union Centre's primary developers.

        “In the next five years, Southwestern Ohio will not have seen anything like what is going on in Southeastern Butler County,” Mr. Hinson said. “Union Centre has grown faster than anybody could have possibly imagined. People are coming here from the north and the south and now the businesses are following.”

        A Marriott Hotel; chain restaurants; distribution centers; a host of corporations such as a Procter & Gamble research facility and a Totes-Isotoner Corp. headquarters and distribution hub; and other office buildings, many with a high-tech emphasis, have cropped up on former farmland between the highway and Fairfield.

        Late last year a connector road opened, linking I-75 to Fairfield by way of an extended Union Centre Boulevard to Symmes Road in Fairfield. Now, 12,402 cars travel west daily on Union Centre through the intersection at Ohio 747 onto the Symmes Road connector, according to the county engineer's office. And 11,366 vehicles travel east on Union Centre at Ohio 747 toward the interstate.

        Motorists say they think Union Centre will wind up being another Tylersville Road, especially when two proposed malls are built along Union Centre. One of the malls began construction this summer.

        “The traffic is getting to be a problem out here, too,” said Aaron Fetters, 26, of West Chester, as he pumped gas at the Shell station at Union Centre and Muhlhauser on a recent afternoon. “I like the economic building of the area, but the traffic concerns me. It's just a pain and now Union Centre Boulevard is getting to be that way.”

        Some of the businesses are drawing big crowds, especially the restaurants.

        For instance, Buffalo Wild Wings, just south of the Union Centre/Muhlhauser intersection, ranks seventh in business out of 63 of its corporate stores in the nation after opening Jan. 27, store manager Davey Smith said.

        Mr. Smith and other restaurant managers in the area say they expect malls planned nearby to dramatically increase traffic and their customer base.

        One mall with a movie theater, on the southeast corner of I-75 and Union Centre Boulevard, began construction last month. Four hundred apartments will eventually be built there, too.

        Now, 13,500 cars a day travel east on Union Centre at the interstate, where the only major development is the Queen City Softball Complex at Union Centre and Cincinnati-Dayton Road.

        But when the mall opens, about 1 million cars a year are expected, according to Dave Gully, West Chester administrator.

        Another mall is planned on the northwest corner of Union Centre Boulevard and Muhlhauser Road, but doesn't have enough tenants yet to break ground.

        “Everything out here is growing so rapidly, this is the place to be,” Mr. Smith said. “Our parking lot is too small for us. We have people filtering into the neighboring restaurants' parking lots. They get our overflow.”

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