Proposed Fairborn road project concerns residents

The city of Fairborn is planning the third and final phase of the Dayton-Yellow Springs Road project that will cost nearly $1 million, but residents along that street are concerned about how the work will impact their properties.

Fairborn City Council passed a resolution 4-2 Monday night to file the final application for a $400,000 Ohio Public Works Commission grant and to accept the grant if the city is awarded. Deputy Mayor Stuart Snow and Councilman Robert Wood voted against it.

Wood said redeveloping Kauffman Avenue should be a higher priority to attract more jobs, while Snow said he’s not convinced residents will be completely satisfied with the project.

“We have 32,000 other citizens, but they don’t live on Dayton-Yellow Springs Road,” Snow said. “That’s the point that we keep missing here.”

Phase three of the Dayton-Yellow Springs Road project is about 0.42 miles in length between Southlawn Drive and Beaver Valley Road. Residents along that stretch of Dayton-Yellow Springs Road fear their property values will decline and they will lose a part of a two-way street in front of their homes.

A 15-to-18-foot wide city-owned green space separates Dayton-Yellow Springs Road from residential homes and the two-way street. City officials said the majority of the green space will be removed but initial plans call for the two-way street to remain intact, with designated access points.

Roger DeLong, who’s lived on the street for 23 years, said it’s “been a long fight” with the city, but was pleased with the progress because there will still be a buffer between the homes and Dayton-Yellow Springs Road.

“We want to make sure we don’t lose our street,” DeLong said. “ We want to see something in writing.”

The project includes: roadway widening on the north side for an additional westbound traffic lane; new curb and gutter on the north side; construction of a safety barrier curb; and pavement resurfacing.

“It’s a win-win,” Councilman Dan Kirkpatrick said. “The property owners get to keep their road and we fix a serious potential traffic problem.”

The initial application for the grant was filed with the OPWC in July. The city expects to be notified early next year if it will receive the $400,000 grant, city engineer Jim Sawyer said.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be $930,678, and the remaining balance of $530,678 would be paid for out of the motor vehicle and street levy funds.

Sawyer said if the city is awarded the grant, the funds will be available after July 1, 2014. Construction would start in August or September, and take six to eight months to complete.

The city also would hire a consultant to help with the design phase and talk with residents about the scope of the project, Sawyer said.

Dayton-Yellow Springs Road is the third-busiest street in the city, with an average daily traffic count of 15,000.

“It’s a huge travel corridor for us, and I think it will be nice when it’s done,” City Manager Deborah McDonnell said. “It’d be a great enhancement for the community, and my hope is that the work will minimally impact the residents.”

Dayton-Yellow Springs Road phase one — from Interstate 675 to Southlawn Drive — was completed in 2008. It cost a little more than $1.2 million and covered four-tenths of a mile.

Phase two was completed in June of this year. The $1.05 million project — which also covered about four-tenths of a mile from Beaver Valley Road to Ironwood Drive — improved traffic flow around the Five Points area.

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