“If you’re going over to Mason, you’re going to be straight off the end of (Ohio) 129 into Cox,” Wilkens has said about the solution. “That’s going to be a smoother transition, you won’t get the weave off of 75 coming in there, the 75 traffic will be separated, that’s what’s going to make this work.”
Wilkens said part of the project involves extending Ohio 129 to a new Cox Road roundabout and modifying the Interstate 75 ramps, so there won’t be crisscrossing traffic. The two-year construction project is budgeted at $23 million but Wilkens said the state wanted him to fold an I-75 ramp paving project into his job.
The state will pay for their paving, the county received $11.6 million from the federal government and the rest will be paid for with tax increment financing (TIF) money.
“My gut is they are going to be pretty competitive which is good,” Wilkens said of the bids. “We were in partnership with Mason on a project at Butler Warren and I think we had 10 or 11 builders on a roundabout which is pretty substantial. So my thinking is people are going to be pretty competitive.”
The project was estimated at $1.77 million and the bid came in at $1.66 million. Wilkens said governments are tightening their belts due to COVID-19, so contractors are competing for limited dollars.
The county, Liberty and West Chester townships financed the $40 million-plus project with TIF money when the interchange was built. At the time local officials were advocating the design that will be built now, but state and federal officials would not allow them to tie an interstate project into a local road.
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“That’s what happens when you have the understanding of what it’s going to require 10 years before other people recognize it,” Trustee Christine Matacic said. “But you can’t change history.”
The county has faced multiple big interchange projects in a row, with the $20 million diverging diamond interchange at Union Centre Boulevard and I-75 and the Tylersville Road widening project, both opening in West Chester Twp. last year.
Upcoming, but further down the road, are two more major projects being considered. A new Millikin Road interchange at I-75 has long been a priority for Liberty Twp. Late last year, the trustees learned the cost for a full interchange and improvements to surrounding roadways would be about $72 million. Roadway system improvements alone would cost $64 million.
Dan Corey, director of the Butler County Transportation Improvement District, said officials submitted the feasibility study to the state and are now responding to comments they made. The next step is to complete the Interchange Justification Study for the federal government.
“We really are still looking at three alternatives,” Corey said. “A no build, a build with only local roadway network and a build with local roadway network and an interchange. We’re looking at all three and then we’re going to go to public and we’ll have a public comment period for 30 days.”
In normal times they would make a public presentation of the plans, but Corey said COVID might force them into a virtual discussion.
If everything goes according plan, construction could begin in 2025-26. Corey said outside funding is going to be key, especially with governments curbing spending due to the pandemic.
“With us looking for federal and state funds, their budgets will depend on when we can build this,” Corey said. “We will ask them if their budgets have capacity, but revenues at the state and federal level have been going down due to COVID.”
The last huge ticket item on the county’s road network plan is the North Hamilton Crossing, to bypass east-west traffic away from the thick of downtown and facilitate crowds expected to flood the massive Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill complex when it is complete.
Price estimates have varied widely, ranging from a potential low of $75 million up to $200 million for the bridge project. Corey said the project is in its “infancy” so nailing down a good estimate is difficult. A feasibility study is underway and should be completed in a few months.
“We don’t know, we haven’t looked at preferred alternatives, we haven’t gotten a cost analysis, we are still at a pretty early phase to be throwing out dollars,” Corey said. “We are doing a feasibility study and when we’re done with the feasibility study we’ll have a better idea of the cost.”
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