The state Transportation Review Advisory Council also re-confirmed an earlier vote approving a “super street” in Greene County, a project that will entail a new U.S. 35 interchange at North Valley and Trebein roads, among other changes.
Chris Kershner, executive vice president at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and one of nine TRAC members, said the work in both counties is “essential for the east-west movement of goods and commuting for our region.”
“These projects have been on our priority list for a long time,” Kershner said Thursday.
“Those are major improvements here in the region that will make life and our economic health a lot better,” said Steve Stanley, executive director of the Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District.
The planned work on U.S. 35 in both Montgomery and Greene counties is identified by TRAC as “Tier I” projects for the years 2018 to 2021.
“Tier I really means that things are ready to move forward on construction,” Stanley said.
The work on Valley and Trebein roads is on TRAC’s Tier III list, the lowest level of readiness.
The Valley-Trebein work is a separate allocation, a $2 million project. “That’s something that really needed to happen,” Kershner said.
Work on the Greene County “super street” is slated to begin in April 2019, while work in Montgomery County is scheduled for state fiscal year 2021, said Laura Loges, spokeswoman for the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. There is not set date for the Valley-Trebein project.
TRAC is a committee that helps prioritize how the state spends its transportation infrastructure dollars.
Steady growth
The Eastern edges of the Dayton area have been growing for years, pulled by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — which remains Ohio’s largest single-site employer, with an estimated 27,000 military and civilian employees — and Wright State University, along with businesses that serve them both.
Anyone who lives east of Beavercreek or travels through that area is familiar with the traffic problems on 35, particularly between North Fairfield Road and the Xenia bypass.
“It’s become gridlock, and that continual gridlock will make us unattractive for economic growth,” Kershner said. “So (Wednesday’s) TRAC vote will solve that problem.”
“The (TRAC) vote happened, and we’re on there (on the list of approved projects),” said Brian Martin, director of the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. “I think it’s a big deal.”
Federal funds of $2.4 million will serve as the “local” match for the Montgomery County project, Martin said.
On a draft TRAC list, the “super street” in Greene County is listed for an allocation of $13 million total. Martin said that will get a blend of local and federal funds — about $3 million in federal funds and $1.5 million expected in local funds, from the city of Beavercreek, as well as Greene County and Beavercreek Twp.
That project is committed to fiscal year 2019, Martin said.
Also on the TRAC draft list as a “Tier II” project is a plan to improve access to Dayton International Airport and U.S. 40 from I-70 westbound. That is identified as a total $11.9 million project.
Placement on the Tier II list means the project is not ready to move forward on construction. Stanley said the TID will request Tier I construction funds for the access road project this calendar year.
“That just means we start the process of ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation) considering” moving the project to the top tier, Stanley said.
TID is still performing design work on the airport access road project, he said.
By the numbers
Tier 1 TRAC list
$14 million: Total funding identified for U.S. 35 work in Montgomery County
$13 million: Total funding identified for U.S. 35 work in Greene County
Tier II TRAC list
$11.9 million: Total funding identified for improved access to Dayton International Airport and the U.S. 40 interchange
Tier III TRAC list
$32 million: Total funding identified for Valley and Trebein Roads at U.S. 35 in Greene County.
Source: TRAC draft 2018-2021 major new construction program list
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