Emergency vehicles are using alternate routes when needed and slowing down to maneuver through traffic surrounding the congested area, officials said.
“We’ve had several runs already — the fire department has and the police has — we’ve gotten through. It may take you a little bit longer, but it’s just something you have to deal with,” said Monroe Police Chief Greg Homer.
“It hasn’t been a big problem and I really don’t expect it to be. It’s going to slow us down don’t get me wrong, you’ve got a lot of cars there and they’ve got to get out of your way.”
Fire Chief Mark Neu agreed. He said the fire department has been using its emergency red lights and sirens when traveling along Ohio 63.
“Right now, people have been pulling over for the fire trucks to go through. We have not had a problem,” Neu said.
Homer said there is room for motorists to move to the side of the road on the Ohio 63 bridge where road construction is continuing on a Single Point Urban Interchange, which began in the spring and is designed to replace the overpass, increase capacity and allow for continuous traffic flow on the road.
“There are alternate routes also that requires us to take a little bit longer, but we can still do it,” Homer said.
He said he recommends motorists not traveling to the mall or the Monroe area take alternate routes that include heading north off Cincinnati-Dayton Road towards Greentree Road to bypass Ohio 63 and taking Cincinnati-Dayton Road and Ohio 741 to avoid Interstate 75 going north or south.
“The thing is if you’re just going north (on I-75) in Monroe, you just get in the left-hand lane and there’s no hold up whatsoever. You might have to just slow down maybe to 40 miles per hour, but it keeps on moving,” he said.
Homer said when the outlet center opened last weekend off Ohio 63 in Warren County, the city’s fire department posted a life squad at the location to address any problems.
The department also plans to assign officers to that part of town this weekend.
“We’ve downsized our beats — during those times that the officers are down there that will be their beats, the I-75 mall area,” he said.
Homer said the Monday after the grand opening weekend of the mall Aug. 6 through Aug. 9, the city received far fewer traffic complaints.
“Officers talked to some of the people as they were directing them in over the weekend and it seems like the average wait was 20 minutes on I-75, and that’s not too bad,” he said.
He said mall officials estimate 10,000 to 12,000 motorists will visit the outlets per day during the grand opening week.
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