Drivers traveling north in Anderson Township should consider new routes soon as a road closure is planned at a key intersection.
In an effort to improve safety and reduce congestion at the Eight Mile Road and State Route 32 intersection, vehicles will not be able to access Route 32 from or to Eight Mile Road starting April 19 into November, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). The safety project will introduce widening and upgrades on Eight Mile Road, along with construction of a signalized “Green T” intersection.
The April 19 project start date is a new development, as the project was moved up from a later May start date announced this winter. (That now-incorrect May date is reflected in the soon-to-be distributed April Anderson Insights.)
The new Green T three-way intersection will allow westbound Route 32 traffic travelling straight down the hill to flow continuously towards Newtown as it does today, bypassing a new traffic signal at the Eight Mile intersection. The new signal will regulate traffic for all other traffic movements.
Westbound traffic on Route 32 will include a left turn traffic signal in a protected phase, which means left turns will only be permitted when eastbound traffic is stopped at the traffic signal. Traffic turning left or right from Eight Mile Road will be managed by the new signal.
While inconvenient during construction, township, county and state officials are greeting the state funded $4.57 million project as a plus because Green T intersections “are implemented to improve congestion and traffic flow, which in turn, improve safety,” said Kathleen Fuller, public information officer with ODOT.
“ODOT has shared that backups and delays at the intersection could be reduced significantly, up to 75 percent,” said Trustee Chair Dee Stone. “This will help more effectively move traffic, while also greatly improving safety at the current, oddly configured intersection,” she added.
This key intersection on the township’s eastern border historically has been recognized as a confusing area for drivers, which in turns causes driver errors. In a five-year period from 2017 to 2021, the Hamilton County Engineer’s Office recorded 39 crashes at the location, with 2017 alone listing 12 incidents. Numerous crashes included injuries.
The project is the latest in a number of key upgrades in the region’s Eastern Corridor, a focus of study for ODOT for the last several decades between the I-71/Red Bank Road area and Route 32 near Batavia. The cost of the project is $4,570,088, funded by ODOT.
According to Steve Sievers, assistant township administrator for operations, over the years ODOT has implemented various low-cost improvements, such as a continuous right turn lane from Eight Mile to Route 32, restriping and resurfacing, to try to improve safety at the intersection. “These efforts were only able to muster ‘minimal’ results, but in looking at the entire corridor, engineers identified the Green Tee approach to help more efficiently, and safely, move traffic through these areas.”
Drivers have already navigated the first phase of construction on Route 32, as traffic has been shifted to the south with a barrier wall in place. With this next phase, Eight Mile will be closed at Route 32 and the official detour will direct traffic to Clough and Mt. Carmel-Tobasco Road, and vice versa.
During construction, while traffic on Route 32 will generally be free flowing through the intersection in both directions, it will be limited to one lane. All traffic will first be placed on the current westbound (“downhill”) side of the roadway split in this area while work occurs on the eastbound (“uphill”) lanes. Later this summer, traffic will then shift to the current “uphill” lanes.
Most of the work will be complete by the end of October, according to ODOT, and soon thereafter Eight Mile Road will be reopened. In 2024, final paving, striping and raised pavement marker will be completed.
“Though work is focused at the Eight Mile intersection, construction will impact traffic flow as motorists seek other intersections along Route 32,” noted Sievers. As such, the township is working with ODOT and nearby communities who manage traffic signals at these nearby crossroads, to help plan for an adjustment to new traffic patterns.
“We appreciate the collaboration of ODOT, the Village of Newtown, the Hamilton and Clermont County Engineer’s offices, and Union Township to work through this project,” Sievers said.
“This will have impacts,” Stone noted, “but the finished project will be much safety and ease traffic. We appreciate motorists’ patience and help planning alternative routes and allowing for some extra travel time,” she said.