The project includes “a number of changes to provide for a safer environment,” said Kyle Hinkelman, Miami Twp.’s deputy director of community development.
It also calls for changes regarding the intersection of Ohio 741 and Landing Way; Kohl’s Access Road, which will be renamed Liverpool Lane; and parking areas west of Kohl’s. It will be paid for and maintained by Austin Landing developer RG Properties and is estimated to cost $250,000, company President Bo Gunlock has said.
The proposed changes are “a way to better improve this intersection (between Kohl’s and Kroger) for pedestrians, automobiles and everyone who utilizes it,” Hinkelman said.
The concept for the traffic light was publicly proposed in the first few months of this year and required a traffic impact study. The project was approved 4-0 by the township’s zoning commission earlier this month.
What RG Properties Vice President of Construction Scott Laubie called “a lengthy process” has involved the township, the Montgomery County Engineer’s Office and the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The plan has been approved by the county and state, and it is set to go before township trustees Tuesday night. Pending passage by trustees, the project is expected to start in the spring, Laubie said.
With a 274-unit upscale apartment building under construction and a 108-room extended stay hotel in the works nearby, Gunlock has said a key to the project will be to ensure that the proposed traffic signal is synchronized with the one at the intersection of Ohio 741 and Landing Way. ODOT concurred, Hinkelman told zoning commissioners.
“ODOT was really concerned about the timing between the two lights,” he said. “It has been a dance to make sure that all of these things play together.”
The plan calls for improvements at the Landing Way/Kohl’s Access Road (Liverpool Lane) intersection include the traffic signal, the addition of a northbound right turn lane from the access road onto Landing Way and signalized pedestrian crosswalks.
Upgrades at the other intersection call for two northbound left turn lanes and two southbound right turn lanes from Landing Way onto Ohio 741. That intersection now has one turn lane in each direction.
Changes for the current Kohl’s Access Road call for two raised pedestrian crossings from the department store to parking areas to its west. There will also be changes to entrances to those parking areas to ease traffic flow, documents show.
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