The Union Township Civic Center was packed with Clermont County residents Sept. 28 all waiting to get a look at the Ohio Department of Transportation’s alternatives to improve traffic in the Eastgate area.
“This is the first time we’ve been out and shown them alternatives,” Jay Hamilton, project manager from ODOT, said about the open house.
ODOT unveiled five alternatives as part of the State Route 32 Eastgate Area Improvement Study. The study is part of the Eastern Corridor program, which includes a series of projects designed to improve roadways that connect eastern suburbs to downtown Cincinnati.
Hamilton, and other ODOT representatives, were on hand at the open house to answer questions and help clarify how each alternative would work if selected.
The first alternative, which is not being recommended for further study by ODOT after their initial evaluation, is to widen SR 32.
The second alternative is to create an interchange on SR 32 between Glen Este-Withamsville Road and existing Elick Lane/Bach Buxton Road.
Alternative three would create an interchange on SR 32 at existing Elick Lane/Bach Buxton intersection.
The fourth alternative includes and interchange on SR 32 between Elick Lane/Bach Buxton Road and Old SR 74.
Hamilton said the fifth alternative is not to do any construction in the area. This too he wouldn’t recommend, considering the traffic situation.
Residents were able to take a look at the alternatives and fill out a comment form to give feedback about what they saw and select the alternative they think would work best.
Several residents were concerned about an alternative potentially placing a road through the new Union Township Library, which is under construction off Glen Este-Withamsville Road.
“I don’t want it to affect the library,” Carl Brockman, of Union Township, said after viewing the alternatives. “I’d rather have the interchange at Bach Buxton Road.”
Thomas Mantel, a library board member, was also at the meeting. He said the board is not against progress, they just want to make sure the new library is not drastically impacted.
Hamilton said the option (alternative two) that would potentially impact the library was designed to skirt around it, and would only affect the parking lot.
And while this made some residents happy, others who attended the open house were affected in different ways by some of the alternatives.
“Those option ramps, I would vote against those,” Terry Stewart, who lives on Joyce Drive in Union Township, said about option four.
Stewart said the option took a ramp through two of his neighbors yards and four houses in his neighborhood.
“It is interesting,” Allan Daniel, who also lives on Joyce Drive, said about improvement alternative four. “I don’t think it is going to work.”
Daniel said the alternative would put a road through his backyard.
“As a whole, there definitely needs to be things done,” he said. “I don’t think they have the smartest ideas on the maps I’ve seen.”
Many of those who stopped by agreed that improvement is needed in the area, the challenge, however, is finding an option that will please everyone.
“The end result is we want to improve the safety and congestion with as minimal impact as we can come up with,” Hamilton said.
He said they will collect questions and comments from residents, figure out which alternatives were the most popular and look at how things can be tweaked based on feedback they received.
Residents can submit comments about the alternatives until Oct. 26. For more information and to view maps of the alternatives visit www.tid.clermontcountyohio.gov.