Question: The recent completion of the Interstate 275 widening between U.S. 50 and Beechmont Avenue included the installation of sound barriers. However, one section was left undone. The east side of 275, north of the Old Ohio 74 overpass, had the steel supports for the sound barriers installed during the summer, and then they were removed. Can you find out what the plans are for this area?

George Ecker, Summerside

Answer: Ron Mosby, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation, said that after the support beams were installed, an observant resident approached workers and said it appeared they were too low to do any good.

So ODOT engineers checked it out and, sure enough, they were too low. The beams were removed and that stretch of sound wall was re-engineered. Mosby said the walls will be installed, likely later this year.

The error added $294,000 to the cost of the project, and ODOT will absorb it, Mosby said.

Q: There is a traffic light at Montgomery Road (U.S. 22/Ohio 3) and Calumet Way, at the entrance to two subdivisions. It has left-turn lanes and arrows. Farther north, there are busy intersections with Mason-Montgomery Road and Fields Ertel, and they have left-turn lanes but no arrows. Why does a non-busy, residential crossroad have a left-turn arrow and not the three busy commercial crossroads?

Nancy Cozzens, Morrow

A: The light at Calumet Way was installed several years ago and the left-turn arrows were added because Symmes Township decided to make part of Twilight Tear Lane one-way off Blong Road. By reconfiguring the traffic flow on the side streets, more cars were forced to use Calumet Way. The arrows make that easier, said Mosby, of the state transportation department.

I have a question, too: Two years ago, Ferguson Drive was extended from just north of Clough Pike to meet Eastgate Boulevard in Clermont County's Union Township. But most of the connection is barricaded and cannot be used. What's up?

The road extension was built by Clermont County builder Duane Ferguson, so that he could further develop the land he owns between Clough and Aicholtz Road. But county officials promptly barricaded it because a left-turn lane from Clough onto Ferguson was not built. The county asked Ferguson to bear the cost of creating the turn lane, which he declined to do. County officials, fearing big backups on Clough, won't allow the extended section to open without the turn lane.

Meanwhile, Ferguson has been at odds with Union Township officials over his plans to further develop his land. He says the township offered to buy his 68 acres, but the terms of the sale were not satisfactory. The township would like to use the property for a business park, Ferguson said, and the connecting road he built doesn't fit into township plans.

So, it appears that as long as the stalemate among Ferguson, the township and county continues, the land will sit idle.

Send questions to: Dave Hofmeister, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 700 Service Center Drive, West Chester, OH 45069. E-mail: dhofmeister@enquirer.com