“We’ve seen a dramatic decrease in traffic,” Bales said in a report to city council this week, noting there have not been “too many grumbles” from base employees who used the street as a shortcut to WPAFB Gate 1A. “Our residents have been happy, we’ve heard from a lot of them.”
Under the current arrangement, which is temporary, the city used barricades to prevent left turns from the three streets to Broad Street, preventing turns to WPAFB Gate 1A. Barricades also block Broad Street left turns to the three streets.
Bales said the city will continue to monitor the traffic for the remainder of the 90 day trial, which began Jan. 23.
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.
The neighborhood 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, city officials said.
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