Access to the park will be maintained, and there should be little to no impact to roadway traffic.
There will also be construction of a shared-use path along the west side of Cincinnati Dayton Road in Liberty Twp. That project begins in June and will go on through September 2024, ODOT said.
Ohio 73 and Ohio 130 will also see pavement maintenance. On Ohio 73 it will be between West Elkton and Jacksonburg roads, and on Ohio 130 it will be between U.S. 27 and Boyle Road. Both begin in August with completion expected in November, and will include intermittent lane closures.
District-wide culvert maintenance and replacement is planned for various routes: Ohio 4, Ohio 126, Ohio 744, U.S. 27 and U.S. 127. Culvert work starts this month and is expected to be finished in September.
The project price on Butler County culvert work is nearly $476,000.
Other planned ODOT road construction in Butler County includes:
- Ohio 126 resurfacing: Between Millville Shandon Road and Ohio 128, and replacing a culvert east of Morgan Ross Road, April through October. Project cost: $2.5 million
- County-wide bridge maintenance: Bridge sealing and maintenance work on various structures along Interstate 75 and Ohio 129. Work will start in may and go through October. Project cost: $374,803
- U.S. 27 bridge rehabilitation: Bridge rehabilitation on Ohio 27 North and South at the structures located over Ohio 128 (Hamilton Cleves Road), beginning in June and going through July 2024. Project cost: $2.5 million
- Ohio 127 bridge rehabilitation: Bridge rehabilitation on Ohio 127 over Tail Race to the Great Miami River at Hamilton, and on Ohio 127 over Mutton Run near Seven Mile, beginning this month and lasting through August. Project cost: $800,713
- U.S. 27 turn lane installation: Left turn lanes are being added on U.S. 27 in both directions at Hamilton New London Road, Herman Road and Ross Millville Road. The project also includes installation of a two-way, left-turn lane between Ross Millville and Hamilton New London Roads. This project will last through June. Project cost: $3.9 million
The Butler County Engineer’s Office also recently gave a road projects update. Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkens has 49 projects totaling $38.3 million identified for this year and 40.5% of the capital improvement plan is for resurfacing county and township roads.
Wilkens said costs have skyrocketed: In 2020, the county paid $166,793 per mile, this year it is paying $249,992 per mile, which is nearly a 50% increase.
Many of the county’s townships elected to use their own federal windfall on roads and the commissioners allocated $10 million — $5 million each for this year and next — of their American Rescue Plan Act money for paving projects.
“We’re buying less with what we’ve got and that’s a concern as we look forward,” Wilkens told the Journal-News last week. “Thanks to the ARPA money we’ve seen almost a 231% increase in what the townships normally do. That’s between their ARPA money and the ARPA money you provided for them, it’s almost double their paving, our paving has held the same.”
Wilkens is responsible for improving and maintaining county-owned roads but also bids and supervises township bridge, culvert and road projects. Those jurisdictions pay for the projects within their territories. Cities and the state handle their own roads.
There are three major Butler County roadway improvements. The most expensive is estimated at $6.1 million to widen and improve drainage on Crescentville Road in West Chester Twp. — the cost is going to be shared between the federal government, Greater Cincinnati Water Works, West Chester Twp., Sharonville, Springdale and the county. Wilkens said this project has been in discussion for 20 to 25 years, “it’s been a long haul to get there.”
The final phase of the massive $32 million Liberty Way interchange improvement is scheduled for this year and includes additional turn lanes at Liberty Way and Cox Road, with a price tag of $2.8 million. The overpass reconfiguration and new roundabout at Veterans Boulevard are complete — some final touches such as paving will also be done in the spring. Wilkens estimated it should be complete by late summer.
The final roadway improvement is widening Tylersville Road from Lakota Hills Drive to Lakota Springs Drive at a cost of $2.3 million. It involves adding a center turn lane through that stretch of road.
Bridge repairs are another focus this year with $7 million budgeted to address four bridges. Work has already begun on the $2 million Elk Creek Road bridge, and the most expensive project is $3.4 million for the Princeton Road bridge in Liberty Twp. That project is being done in conjunction with the new roundabout at Princeton and Mauds Hughes for a total cost of $4.6 million.
Hamilton County projects
During ODOT’s projects announcement on Monday, information was given on the Hamilton County “Thru the Valley project,” which is a widening in both directions between Kemper and Glendale-Milford roads, as well as improvements to the Sharon Road interchange and the intersection of Sharon and Chester roads. The $45.7 million project is ongoing and is expected to be done in June 2024.
Interstate 74 will also see a resurfacing project from the Dry Fork Road interchange to just west of the Hamilton-Cleves Road interchange as well as I-275, between its junction with I-74 and the Kilby Road interchange.
Drivers also are experiencing a resurfacing of I-75 from the Harrison Avenue underpass to the I-71 overlap at the approach to the Brent Spence Bridge. That project began last May and will be done in June.
A “SmartLane” is being installed by resurfacing and repairing pavement between Ohio 42 and the Clermont County line. This project includes the implementation of dynamic message boards and variable speed limit signs.
That project is expected to be complete in May and has a cost is $22.3 million.
There are several more in Hamilton County and other areas. To see the full ODOT District 8 plan, go online to transportation.ohio.gov/about-us/districts/district-8-lebanon.