Residents in both Braxton Parke and Sycamore Creek neighborhoods have expressed concerns about traffic issues in their neighborhoods and are looking to find a solution.
While Braxton Parke residents are pursuing a petition to potentially install a gate to close the road that connects the two neighborhoods, some residents in Sycamore Creek are seeking other methods to ease the cut-through traffic.
“It’s been going on for years,” Bob Carr, treasurer for the Sycamore Creek Homeowners Association, said about the speeding and traffic issues. “Braxton Parke is relatively new, they are the last to actually see the problem.”
Sycamore Creek and Braxton Parke are neighboring developments in Batavia Township, and the roads that run through the developments connect to Amelia-Olive Branch Road, Bach Buxton Road and Ohio Pike.
Many residents from the developments attended a Batavia Township Trustee meeting last month to speak with trustees about their concerns.
“Our subdivision has the same issues that Braxton Parke had stated in the meeting,” Amy Clark, vice president of the Sycamore Creek HOA, said after the meeting. “Speeding, litter, break-ins. We are sadly ‘in the same boat,’ so to speak.”
Carr said he has lived in Sycamore Creek for 20 years and has seen problems associated with traffic increase since more roads have been built to connect different developments, including Buxton Meadows and Bristol Lake, in the area.
“It was a drastic rise in traffic and speeding,” Carr said. “And around the neighborhood we saw a drastic rise in things disappearing.”
Carr said the traffic is not just coming from the neighborhoods, but also traffic from the Amelia High School and from residents in the area who use the streets in the neighborhood to cut through for quicker access to the surrounding main roads.
“It’s very apparent to us, and it has been for years that the traffic is not our neighborhoods,” Carr said.
And while Carr said he understands the desire to block the connecting road between the two neighborhoods, he feels blocking the road is not an overall solution to the problem.
“When they put that gate up all they’re going to do is divert that traffic out Laub Road,” Carr said. “It solves the problem for their 200-some people, but it doesn’t solve the problem for us.”
In addition, Carr said even if the gate allows access for emergency personnel, there is still a chance the gate could fail. He said installing a gate will also make it more difficult for postal workers and delivery workers, who rely on Global Positioning Systems to do their job.
“You’re inconveniencing everyone with the gate,” Carr said. “We all need all the roads.”
Carr said installing a gate could also set a precedent for the rest of the neighborhoods.
“The next thing you know we’re going to have an all gated community,” Carr said. “It’s going to be a nightmare.”
Carr said finding an overall solution to the problem will not be easy because there is not a quick fix.
He said installing speed bumps in the neighborhoods would help slow drivers down and potentially deter traffic. When it comes to crime, he said developing a neighborhood system could help.
“I think it takes all of us working together.” Carr said. “Let’s work with the county and the township, let’s get enough names together to make that happen.”