ThisWeek CW 10/1/2015
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/09/28/gender-groveport-roads-city-wont-seek-opwc-funds-for-intersection.html
Canal Winchester officials opted not to pursue grant funding for upgrades to the Gender and Groveport roads intersectionthis year because of tight deadlines and concerns about the project’s competitiveness.
For the second year in a row, upgrades aimed at easing traffic congestion and increasing safety at the intersection are being put off, according to city engineer Adam Vorhis, who spoke to Canal Winchester City Council Sept. 21 about the staff’s concerns with the project.
According to Vorhis, the project design would increase the number of turn lanes, the layout of a bicycle path and alter a traffic signal pattern, but that’s not why the Ohio Public Works Commission declined the city’s application for funding in 2014. He said the minimal design changes that were planned for this year’s application also wouldn’t affect the project’s competitiveness.
“It wasn’t the design that wasn’t competitive, it was the project, because (the OPWC) gives points based on the economic reinvestment area. Something I don’t want to call a weakness, but worked against us here, is that there hasn’t been a history of big accidents there — even though anyone going through the intersection at rush hour would know the upgrades are needed,” Vorhis said.
Councilwoman Bobbie Mershon asked what would make the project competitive in the future.
“When we originally applied for the grant, it was competitive and scored well enough that it would’ve been funded in the past seven out of 10 years, but the changes to the formula related to economic development meant it didn’t quite score high enough,” Vorhis said.
He said that with the new BrewDog development going in, the project’s score could increase next year.
Vorhis said he and Public Works Director Matt Peoples have been meeting with Madison Township officials about the Gender Road fire station, which could result in a collaborative application next year; that, too, could increase the score, he said.
“We were right at the deadline when we started meeting with Madison Township so we couldn’t get this done properly and in time,” Peoples said.
“Madison Township was disappointed we weren’t trying to move forward with the project, though, as they’re having increasing difficulties with getting trucks out of the station when traffic is heavy there.”
Peoples said equipment used by emergency vehicles to change traffic signals is out of date and needs to be upgraded, which could become another way of increasing the scoring for an OPWC grant application in 2016.
Route 33 soundwall
In other infrastructure news, Vorhis reported that the Ohio Department of Transportation is moving forward with plans to build a soundwall along U.S. Route 33.
“ODOT said it is still moving forward and is programmed for fiscal year 2017, which means the design process should start next July,” he said.
He said residents and city officials should see some surveys regarding the wall’s appearance being sent out by ODOT in about nine months to help prepare for the design phase of the project.