Montgomery Road Widening

By Ken Bryant

I have always been in favor of the Montgomery road widening and have only suggested to our current Trustees that the currently funded Construction Phase be terminated at Kemper Road instead of Red Cloud Court until the complete residential corridor could be done at one time. ODOT's plan will create a 7 to 2 lane traffic funnel and cause traffic to divert through additional neighborhoods and create new traffic congestion with pedestrian and children safety issues.

In getting ODOT's Montgomery Road widening project planned through Symmes Township, the current Trustees gave away greenspace purchased with Park Levy funds and ignored the egress/access needs of the residents who live along Montgomery road from Kemper Road to the Warren County line. The portion of the planned widening between Red Cloud Court and the Warren County line isn't even funded at the State level, and if it ever is, it won't be before 2012.

The current ODOT plan calls for the road to be a full 7 lanes at Kemper, taper to 5 lanes at the CG&E Substation, taper to 3 lanes between Red Cloud and Appleseed/Calumet Way, and remain the same 2 lanes just North of that intersection. This will create a 7 to 2 lane traffic funnel with Appleseed as the only outlet from Montgomery Road between Kemper Road and Mason-Montgomery Road, cause traffic back-ups to divert through Appleseed and Terwilligers Run neighborhoods, and create additional traffic congestion with new pedestrian and children safety issues.

I have always been in favor of the Montgomery road widening and have only suggested to our current Trustees that the funded Construction Phase be terminated at Kemper Road instead of Red Cloud Court until the complete residential corridor from Kemper to Enyart/Harbortown could be done at one time. I will lobby ODOT and the State Legislature vigorously to fund that construction phase as soon as possible.

There are several less distressing plans to ease traffic flow in the interim at Columbia Acura and throughout Symmes Township but ODOT refuses to implement them until the road widening is totally completed. I will lobby ODOT to implement these interim measures now!