Butler County Engineer Dean
C. Foster reports that the Tylersville Road / LeSourdsville West
Chester Road intersection in Union Township will close beginning
Monday, March 23, 1998 for approximately twelve weeks. Major
safety improvements slated for the intersection will require
motorists to utilize alternate routes through early June. Detours
will be posted, but the BCEO is encouraging motorists who use
both roads to make alternate commuting plans now.
Utility relocations at the
intersection were begun last year and are nearly complete. Several
structures have also been removed to make way for the wider intersection.
Actual reconstruction will include improvements to the horizontal
and vertical alignments (cutting down the intersection five feet
and realigning the approaches), plus adding turn lanes on all
four approaches and signalization.
"We will have a much
safer intersection with better sight distance when the project
is finished," according to Foster. "The addition of
turn lanes and signals will also improve traffic flow dramatically."
Foster emphasized that everything
possible will be done to keep closure time to a minimum. "We
realize that these are heavily traveled roads, particularly Tylersville,
and that this closure will be an inconvenience to many commuters;
however, our Office has approached this project very methodically
in an effort to reopen the intersection as quickly as possible."
He added that construction
dates and completion times are extremely weather-dependent and
the BCEO is asking that motorists be patient in the event of
a wet Spring. "Several rain dates are typically built into
a project's time line, but a persistent rainy period can slow
things down," he added. Motorists are encouraged to check
for any updates and status changes on the BCEO's web site at
www.bceo.org.
The Tylersville / LeSourdsville
West Chester project is actually the major portion of a contract
that also included improvements to the Tylersville Road at Kennesaw
Drive intersection a half mile to the east. That project, completed
last year, involved the addition of turn lanes on Tylersville,
the installation of traffic signals, and removal of a small knob
just west of the intersection.
The construction contract
for both projects was awarded to Ft. Defiance Construction Company
of Ft. Defiance, Ohio, which submitted a low bid of $1,398,910.
The Butler County Engineer's Office leveraged State Issue 2 money
to help fund 80 to 90 percent of the cost. BCEO revenues will
provide the required local match.
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