Butler County Engineer
Greg Wilkens announces that a $2.4 million upgrade to Hamilton
Mason Road is slated to begin this Monday. Straddling the Liberty
/ West Chester Township line, the 0.6 mile stretch of roadway
will be widened from Cincinnati Dayton Road west to near the
Norfolk & Southern Railroad overpass.
"This is another
project designed to improve safety and traffic flow in a rapidly
developing area," said Wilkens. "We are fortunate to
be ahead of the traffic curve on this one, so to speak, since
most conventional funding mechanisms are designed to resolve
existing issues. In this case we were able to implement local
TIF money (Tax Increment Financing) to fund the project now and
address the need earlier rather than later. This is also beneficial
to the developing Liberty Interchange project and related improvements
to Hamilton Mason Road east of here."
Specifically, plans
call for widening Hamilton Mason Road to five lanes from Cincinnati
Dayton Road west for 0.4 mile. The road will taper to three lanes
for another 0.2 mile where it tapers back to two lanes just east
of the railroad overpass. There will be major adjustments to
the vertical alignment, thus eliminating several small hills
that currently cause sight distance issues.
The project will also
include installation of all new sanitary sewer and water mains,
two new culverts, curb and gutter, and sidewalk along the entire
length on the north side. Signals will be added for safer access
to a new commercial and light industrial complex developing on
the north side of the road.
A construction contract
for the Hamilton Mason Road project was awarded to Mt. Pleasant
Blacktopping of Fairfield which submitted a low bid of $2,470,346.
Crews will begin clearing and grubbing next week with full construction
getting under way by mid-December. All work is slated for completion
by late July 2008, weather permitting.
Road Closings
and Maintenance of Traffic
There will be four
separate closings of Hamilton Mason Road in conjunction with
this project. The first will occur in January and is necessary
to install a sanitary sewer line across the road. (Note: This
is a change from the original news release text. The contractor
changed the date from December to January.) The second and third closures are tentatively
scheduled for February and involve new culvert installations.
Each of the first three closures will be for a length of approximately
two days.
The fourth and final
closure will be significantly longer and is expected to be in
effect from April through July. This closure is necessary for
the major portion of the project and involves extensive earth
work, cutting down hills, full depth pavement replacement, storm
sewer installation, and curb and gutter placement.
During any closure
local traffic to homes and businesses will be maintained but
all thru traffic will be detoured. Dates of all closures at this
time are approximate and weather dependent. Specific information
for each closure will be provided by the BCEO as they occur.
# # #
For more information
contact:
Chris
Petrocy, BCEO Public Information Supervisor
Greg Wilkens, P.E., P.S.,
Butler County Engineer
Phone 513.867.5744 • Fax 513.867.5849
