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Final phase of I-75 changes designed for safety

Number of exits will be reduced in an effort to enhance traffic flow.

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By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 8:33 AM Monday, February 6, 2012

The final phase of Interstate 75 construction will permanently change how thousands of drivers enter and exit downtown Dayton every day, marking one of the biggest changes in the design of the freeway since it was built half a century ago.

New diagrams from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the engineering firm HNTB show a total reconfiguration of the dangerous entrance and exit ramp system, which has confounded drivers for years and been a dramatic contributor to the road’s high crash rate.

The changes, which will occur during a five-year span from 2013-17, will replace all on- and off-ramps at the west edge of downtown, reduce the two exits in each direction to one, create more “through lanes” for traffic into downtown and move slightly the actual location of the highway structure.

The total cost of the changes is $237 million.

HNTB engineer Jake Stremmel stressed the elimination of left-side entrances and exits as “a major, major safety upgrade,” and a Dayton Daily News review of some new local research would seem to support that claim.

University of Dayton civil engineering professor Deogratias Eustace, along with recent graduates Aline Aylo and Worku Mergia, studied 2005-08 crash data on I-75 near downtown Dayton, from the Edwin C. Moses Boulevard exit to Needmore Road.

Their study found that the left-side entrance ramps were likely to have 7.88 times more crashes than right-side entrance ramps. Left-side exit ramps were likely to have 2.25 times more crashes than right-side exit ramps, according to the study.

Both entrance ramps from downtown to northbound 75 — from Second and Third streets — are of the risky left-side variety.

“One of those ramps creates a new lane, but the other one just throws you into (the high-speed lane),” said Randy Chevalley, deputy director for the Ohio Department of Transportation District 7. “The biggest benefit is going to be that a driver can get in one lane and get all the way through and not have to merge into another lane. And there will be three of those (continuous) lanes.”

Confusing exits

If nothing else, the reconfigured exits should end some of the confusion drivers often have navigating from I-75 into downtown.

Currently, a southbound driver on I-75 sees the left lane disappear into the Third Street exit ramp, followed less than a mile later by right-side lanes ending in the U.S. 35 exit.

Northbound drivers do a similar dance, going from two lanes at U.S. 35 to four lanes after. But then, they lose one right lane at First Street and another at Main Street. At the same time, the two northbound entrance ramps add a lane to the left side of the road.

ODOT officials said reducing congestion through the downtown stretch of freeway is a critical need. The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission estimates that I-75 carries about 140,000 vehicles past downtown on a typical business day — about 50 percent more than capacity.

“It’s ultimately going to not just alleviate the congestion, but because people don’t have to merge, it’s going to be a lot safer,” ODOT District 7 spokeswoman Mandi Abner said. “You’re not going to have as many crashes and accidents, which means traffic’s going to flow a lot better.”

‘Aggravating’ travel

When asked, Kelly Sallee quickly deems travel along I-75 “aggravating” and “clustered.” The Dayton resident often travels south to Kentucky to visit family and common sights along the way includes bumper-to-bumper traffic and what appear to be injury accidents.

“It’s just unsafe because people are trying to get through however they can,” she said. “I feel like (the reconfiguration) is worth it.”

But Tracy Cooley, a Beavercreek resident who travels across the country for work with a consulting company, said residents in the Miami Valley should value Dayton’s freeway system. In spite of what seems like unending construction, it’s still straightforward compared to other cities its size.

“I kind of took it for granted how easy it is to get around,” she said. “The more you travel, the better it is to be home.”

Jack Skilliter, an Oregon District resident who works at the Dayton Racquet Club as executive chef, said he has driven in and around the New York City and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas.

While Dayton has far less traffic than those areas, the Dayton area offers fewer travel and detour options during construction phases, he believes.

“They have much more substantial highway networks,” Skilliter said.

Still, he said, Skilliter appreciates the relative ease of local commuting. “Even with construction, I’ve never found a serious standstill,” he said.

A decade-long restructuring

Economic development officials say infrastructure enhancements like these are crucial to the region’s prosperity and its many truck-dependent industries. The freeway is also a convenient people-mover.

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