By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DEERFIELD TWP. - Mason-Montgomery Road is already one of the busiest in Greater Cincinnati. If a proposal for a shopping strip and discount retailer is approved, congestion could get even worse.

Traffic is among the concerns residents are likely to raise at today's meeting of the executive committee of the Warren County Regional Planning Commission.

The group, to meet in Lebanon, will discuss plans for a Wal-Mart Supercenter, retail strip and restaurants.

"The specific retailers are not the problem," said Robb Olsen of Deerfield Township. "It's the issue of more retail development and traffic congestion that's a concern."

The new Wal-Mart and two other major developments already under construction on Mason-Montgomery Road - which carries 44,367 vehicles a day - could increase traffic about 20 percent, county engineers estimate.

Should plans be approved, Wal-Mart representatives have said, the 203,000-square-foot Supercenter would replace a smaller store off Fields Ertel Road.

Another complex - called the Shoppes of Deerfield - would feature five restaurants and a 20,000-square-foot shopping area in front of the store.

The committee's recommendation to approve, modify or deny the plans will then go back to the Deerfield Township Zoning Commission and ultimately the trustees before they can move ahead.

Also on today's agenda: A plan for a 212-home subdivision behind Wal-Mart.

The planning commission meets 1 p.m. today at the county administration building, 406 Justice Drive, Lebanon.

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com