Under the revised timetable, two phases of closures will begin Jan. 23 and will continue for a maximum 90 days.
Phase one of the closures will use barricades to prevent left turns from Ohio, Greene and South Streets to Broad Street. Barricades will also be placed to prevent left hand turns to Ohio, Greene and South Streets from Broad Street. This phase will last a minimum of 30 days, officials said.
Phase two will fully close access between Ohio, Greene and South Streets to Broad Street on a temporary basis.
City officials will take traffic counts during the phases and will implement additional temporary traffic changes within the neighborhood intersections if necessary in an attempt to reduce and study traffic.
More restrictive measures will not be necessary if phase one barricades successfully reduce traffic, officials said. Resident feedback will also be considered. City engineers will then work with city council and residents to determine if the temporary changes should become permanent.
Traffic in the neighborhoods increased since the 2012 re-route of Ohio 444 off WPAFB Area A onto Kauffman Avenue, South Central Avenue, West Dayton Drive and Broad Street. Base commuters have used Ohio, Greene and South Streets to access Gate 1A, City Engineer Don O’Connor told the newspaper last month.
Those side streets were not built to withstand the traffic, including more than 1,600 vehicles per day on Ohio Street for a road intended for an 800-900 vehicle per day capacity, O’Connor said.
City officials said the change in strategy is directly related to feedback from residents received during meetings with residents in November. At that time, O’Connor announced a plan to temporarily block off Ohio Street first, but residents voiced concern that motorists would simply use other streets as cut-throughs.
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