Dayton, ODOT want to put West Third Street on a road diet

The city of Dayton and the Ohio Department of Transportation propose to shrink West Third Street from five lanes of traffic to three between James H. McGee Boulevard and Abbey Avenue.

The proposed $3.4 million infrastructure project would add a bike lane on the south side of the roadway and a parking lane on the north side. That part of West Third Street handles about 8,400 vehicles every day, according to ODOT.

The changes, which seek to slow down traffic and improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety, could include new curb bump outs, medians and raised crosswalks with flashing beacons. The project also calls for eliminating a traffic signal at Young Avenue and shutting down a connection to West Third Street at Delphos Avenue to reduce the number of “conflict points.”

The project is expected to begin in the fall of 2027 and could take up to a year to complete. During construction, one lane of traffic in each direction will be maintained most if not all of the time.

This segment of West Third Street is home to Roosevelt Elementary school, the Greater Dayton Recreation Center, a Dollar Store and other businesses. Notably, the corridor also has the world’s oldest standing aircraft manufacturing facility, near Abbey Avenue.

The city and other partners hope the National Park Service will purchase and rehab the original Wright factory airplane hangar buildings to create a new museum. The city also wants the non-historic hangars to be redeveloped, possibly into retail, entertainment, dining and commercial uses.

New investments have already occurred or are underway near the hangars. The Dayton Police Department is constructing a new west patrol police station at the southeast corner of the intersection of Abbey and West Third streets, and the Dayton Metro Library opened a new West Branch facility in 2022, south of the Wright company buildings.

Additionally, the Wright Dunbar historic business district is directly east of the intersection of West Third Street and James H. McGee Boulevard. In the business district, there is one lane of traffic in each direction, though the roadway has turn lanes and on-street parking.

To improve pedestrian access to the Wright factory site, the city also has proposed creating a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 35 at Abbey Avenue.