The $13.5 million project is being completed as part of an agreement with Amazon, which operates a fulfillment center on Dog Leg Road.
Union City Manager John Applegate said the project will improve access to new and existing companies while supporting better traffic flow for commercial and residential traffic.
“They’re asking, with the amount of trucks and stuff that will be coming in and out, with product the size of a building, what could we do to help enhance the overall road network,” Applegate said of Amazon in 2021.
The roundabout will involve two interior lanes with continuous right-hand turn movements in four directions. It is meant to ease travel along Dog Leg, Old Springfield and Jackson roads, along with Union Airpark. (Jackson as it progresses north becomes Union Airpark.)
“We had originally looked at putting a traffic light at that intersection but the decision was made to construct a roundabout due to the amount of truck traffic through that area,” Applegate said this week. “We believe this is going to function a lot better, with less truck idling and overall vehicular traffic.”
Weather permitting, Applegate said roundabout construction should wrap up by the end of July.
This project is part of a larger road improvement effort taking place in a growing industrial area near the Dayton International Airport.
Improvements to the northern part of Dog Leg Road, including its intersection with Old Springfield Road, are finishing up, with work on the southern portion, east of the roundabout, set to begin soon.
A project to extend Union Airpark Boulevard north to Old Springfield Road was completed in December of last year, Applegate said.
Phase one of a project to extend to Douglas Way from Jackson Road to Old Springfield Road has been completed, with phase two set to begin this summer. Applegate estimates this project will be completed this fall.
Industrial development is likely to continue on a nearby site, just over a mile from the Dog Leg Road/Old Springfield Road intersection.
Montgomery County commissioners last week approved the annexation of 86 acres of land, located just southwest of the intersection of North Montgomery County Line Road and Peters Road, from Butler Twp. to the city of Union.
“We’re looking forward to more activity in Union,” Debbie Lieberman, Montgomery County commission president said following the vote.
Union city council is expected to adopt the annexation in the coming months. The land will then be rezoned from an agricultural space to light industrial, according to Applegate.
This, in addition to other improvements slated for the property, will add to the appeal of the land for development. Specific plans for developing the land have not yet been made.
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