Accidents spike in roadwork area on Ohio 63

Linda Weisenborn/Staff photographer Road crews work on Ohio 63 near New Garver Road on Monday, June 22. Traffic has been maintained, but delays and backups occur everyday, especially during rush hour.

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By Denise Wilson, Staff Writer Updated 1:21 PM Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The orange barrels lining the Ohio 63 off Interstate 75 in Monroe are creating problems for motorists and businesses along the construction area.

Monroe Police Chief Greg Homer said some people have gotten used to the construction zones, where the Ohio Department of Transportation began building a Single Point Urban Interchange Ramp this spring. However, his department has been “bombarded” with complaints on the weekends because of the two area flea markets that bring in up to 25,000 people on the weekends.

Motorists want to know if there has been a traffic accident causing delays in the area from Lawton to Union Road.

“We get calls all the time on the weekends because they’re sitting in traffic too long,” he said. “Plus our accidents are up in the construction area.”

From January through June, 61 traffic incidents (including accidents), have occurred in the construction area. Some violations are changing lanes without signaling, allowing assured clear distance, failure to yield at an intersection and improper turn at an intersection, Monroe police officials said.

Homer is encouraging drivers to be patient in the construction area where lanes currently are only 10 feet wide.

“It’s going to better when it’s finished. When they call us up and tell us that there’s a traffic jam, yeah, we’re aware of that. You just have too many cars where there’s not enough room,” he said.

“You’re just going to run into traffic, and just use due diligence and caution, and try to keep a little distance between you and one (vehicle) in the front,” Homer said.

Kelly Epperson, the owner of Karisma Salon and Day Spa, said she is trying to keep a positive attitude about the project, which is affecting her business located on American Way off Ohio 63.

“I’m trying to keep a schedule in here and it’s a nightmare because local people find their way around it, and the non-local people don’t — and it just snowballs,” she said.

Epperson said if one of her clients is traveling from Lebanon and is a half an hour late, it throws her schedule off putting her behind and causing her employees to work late.

“I’m glad that they’re doing this. It’s going to do nothing but bring traffic through here and the mall’s going to bring traffic,” she said.

Bill Jamison, owner of Froggy Blues Cafe, agrees.

He said the road project has affected his late-afternoon customer traffic, which is down about 20 percent.

Jamison said people visit the venue after work and likely wonder, “do we want to go fight that crowd or traffic just to go have a couple of beers?”

“It’s an eyesore, too, with nothing but lines of cars out in front of my establishment all the time, but we need it. It’s going to be great when it’s done,” Jamison said.

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