Ron Porter, director of the Butler County Transportation Improvement District, told staff writer Jessica Heffner that he hopes the four-phase project will be completed simultaneously, with construction wrapping up in 2013.
We continue to believe the project — with more lanes and its unique “super-street” intersections — will make the overtaxed highway safer for all Butler County motorists and, as a bonus, stimulate more economic development along the corridor.
If you’re one of the thousands who use the bypass every day (and often drive bumper to bumper), you already know that traffic on the highway — built more than 40 years ago to ease traffic congestion on Ohio 4 in Hamilton — exceeded its capacity many years ago, creating congested and often-dangerous conditions.
It still works as a faster alternate route for motorists wanting to avoid congested Ohio 4 — and its many traffic lights — but the bypass has had more than its share of serious and fatal accidents at its own busy intersections over the years. We look forward to a much safer highway when it is completed.
Officials in the various affected jurisdictions — the cities of Hamilton and Fairfield, and Fairfield Twp., most notably — are to be applauded for working through issues and collaborating on this vital project.
As staff writer Michael Pitman reported last week, Butler County, Hamilton and Fairfield Twp. collectively borrowed $7.25 million to pay for their local share of the project, while the city of Fairfield is covering its portion of the project — from Ohio 4 to Symmes Road — estimated at $9 million to $10 million.
Federal stimulus funds will provide $5.5 million for the project.
Local officials know how important this project is — in terms of motorist safety and potential economic development. The prospering Bridgewater Falls commercial area in Fairfield Twp. is evidence of the area’s potential and has made the intersection of Ohio 129 and the Ohio 4 Bypass one of the most thriving crossroads in Butler County.
Plenty of patience and caution will be required of motorists over the next couple of years — as construction gets under way and especially as we learn the new “super-street” style of intersections. The payoff will come with a wider, more modern Ohio 4 Bypass that will get motorists to their destinations more quickly and more safely. It will have been worth the wait.