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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > April > 03 > Entry
Oxford road project draws ire
Some Oxford residents are steaming about a proposed connector route between U.S. 27 and Ohio 73 southeast of Oxford. The Ohio Department of Transportation has scheduled a public meeting for Thursday, April 10, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Marshall Elementary School, 3260 Oxford-Millville Road, Oxford.
As a preview, here’s an e-mail we received from a landowner out there:
What You Need to Know About The Oxford ByPass: The 27/73 Connector and Thoroughfare Plan
You may be following debates in Oxford about the Bypass. The 27/73 connector and the thoroughfare plan will create a loop road around Oxford on township land, against the wishes of many residents of Oxford and Milford townships. These roads are being defended by Oxford City as a way of relieving traffic in the downtown area and improving safety. But, there is no evidence that they will effectively do so.
The 27/73 Connector is the first leg of the bypass. The connector has been funded by legislative earmarks passed by the 109th and 108th Congress. Earmarks are the source of what are commonly called “pork barrel funding”. The connector funding was obtained through the efforts of the City of Oxford and former Ohio Senator Mike DeWine. Typically earmarks are not debated and are exchanges of political favors.
The funding was justified on the basis of a study carried out in 2003 by a joint Ohio Kentucky Indiana commission, but at that time the Connector was part of a larger project which would connect SR 73 to SR 732. The Bypass plan keeps morphing and changing, but in the end it remains a loop road around Oxford. There are many reasons why this is a bad idea!
Fairness: Whose Road Is This?
Why are the City of Oxford and Miami University planning, and most likely partly funding, major roads that are not under their jurisdiction? Planning on Township land should be driven by the Townships, NOT the university and NOT the city. If Township residents have concerns it’s very difficult for them to have their voices heard. The decision makers are not elected by the citizens of the townships and therefore have no accountability to us.
Current plans are for the 27/73 Connector/Bypass to be maintained by the county with our tax dollars. This is a road lobbied for by the City of Oxford, to be built by the State with Federal Money to be taken over and maintained by the County. Does this make sense?
Questions about Safety:
The last substantial study of truck traffic through Oxford found that 76% of the trucks on the roads in Oxford were making local deliveries. According to the NW Butler Transportation study only 9% of accidents on 27, 73, and 732 involved trucks.
The roads contemplated would create a 100 foot-wide corridor. Studies show that wider roads actually encourage faster speeds and thus generate more accidents.
Planners for the road claim that the 27/73 connector will enhance safety at the intersection between Paterson and 73 in Oxford. Planners are making their case using dubious statistics, ignoring other more dangerous intersections in the city, and refusing to consider other solutions.
Economics: Dollars and Sense
Planners site continual and long-term growth in the region as a justification for the roads. In fact the data shows that the City of Oxford has been growing at the rate of 1-2% per year and growth in the townships is even lower.
Overestimating growth encourages over-development which, if you are a property owner, decreases the market value of your property, and roads facilitate sprawl.
Our Communities: Our Quality of Life
In 1950, Butler County had 84% farmland. In 2002 we had 46% farmland. That’s a 37% decrease, more than most other Ohio counties, except those around Columbus.
The townships have developed distinct communities that incorporate a mix of rural and residential land use patterns. We have all chosen to invest in this specific style of community yet these roads do not include a green belt and invite commercial and residential developments. Planners term this “leap-froging” patterns of development. It is a pattern that destroys rural communities.
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Comments
By Another Property Owner
April 8, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this [an error occurred while processing this directive]
Let us also wonder why there is a meeting, as it seems that City Planning and the county already have at least half of the proposed route of this connector already allocated! You don’t believe me? Take a look at documents at http://cityofoxford.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?viewid=2&eventid=17&meta_id=3448 and the county engineer’s own map at http://bceo.org/onlinemap/default.htm and just zoom in twice at the online map. You’ll see where our policymakers and planners already have made up their mind!
By AJ
September 11, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this
This article is bogus. none of your statements or “facts” even make the slightest bit of sense. Your statistics are simply extremely rounded numbers so you can make your case. WHY is Miami and the City of Oxford Funding or proposing this idea? Let’s think, MAJORITY of traffic for the MAJORITY (9 or 12 months) are to and for the university. Apparently those 9% percent of accidens involving trucks you really could care less about! It’s not 90% but it is still a percentage we must look at and attempt to correct! Those could be 9+ lives lost out of 100 accidents! I understand the point of trying to make a case for yourself and I understand using and munipulating statistics in your own favor, but MAKE more sense when you exam something and criticize a BIG project like next time.