County engineer: Intersection safety studies planned

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XENIA — Safety, for the Greene County engineer, is all about being proactive, which is why she has studies planned in the coming months to look at various dangerous intersections in the county.

“We are trying to be proactive rather than reactive,” Stephanie Goff said at an Aug. 6 county commissioners meeting.

During Goff’s presentation of the 2020 Road and Bridge Program that day, she referenced safety projects that stem from a capital improvement plan.

“We are looking at doing safety studies to see what improvements need to happen at those intersections,” Goff elaborated Friday morning by phone. “With all the development happening, we’re trying to get ahead of what needs to be planned for … what’s the best solution for each intersection to improve it and eliminate fatalities.”

Most of the intersections under scope in the studies planned for 2020-2021 are related to high-crash locations in the county. Others were chosen as a result of an increase in development happening in certain areas plus the possibility of new school facilities being built.

One high-crash location that the county engineer and consultants will look at is Fairground Road at Hilltop Road.

Other intersections that are dangerous but also seeing development in the area include Trebein Road-Dayton Xenia Road-Hilltop Road West, as well as Trebein Road-Dayton Xenia Road East.

According to Goff, Indian Ripple Road-Alpha Bell Road makes the list due to the possibility of a new Beavercreek High School locating on Indian Ripple, Ohio University expanding its campus there, and increasing housing development nearby. Goff said she’s working with the schools and partnering with OU to help with a traffic study there.

“The four-way stop won’t be able to handle traffic in the future,” Goff said. “It’s an odd intersection. We have trouble with trucks turning and it’s going to start having some massive issues.”

The Indian Ripple Road-Factory Road intersection also made the list for similar reasons.

With the possibility of Fairborn City Schools building a new high school on Commerce Center Boulevard, three other intersections may be studied, she said. State Route 235-Trebein Road also has sight-distance issues, as does Garland Road-Trebein Road. Byron Road-SR 235 is also a high-crash location.

Goff said a no passing zone study is also planned for all county roads, and a guardrail inventory and inspection for all county roads and township road bridges is in the works.

The county engineer received $150,000 in safety study funding from the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP).

“A consultant will study the intersection, do an analysis of crash history, alignment of roads, look at those types of things, and determine what is the best solution for the intersection — additional signage, traffic signal, turn lanes, roundabout, all different options,” Goff explained. “We’ll determine a solution and then go after funding. This is step one of the process.”

Other projects from the 2020 Road and Bridge Program are complete or ongoing — micro-surfacing, chip sealing, paving roads and bridge maintenance — and will be detailed in a separate article.

Goff
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Anna Bolton | Greene County News County Engineer Stephanie Goff plans to do a safety study of the Hilltop Road-Fairground Road intersection.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/08/web1_HilltopFairgrounds.jpgAnna Bolton | Greene County News County Engineer Stephanie Goff plans to do a safety study of the Hilltop Road-Fairground Road intersection.

By Anna Bolton

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