In a further attempt to gain the approval of businesses at 35 and Orchard Lane, MVRPC came up with two proposals to extend Heller Drive west to Factory Road. I had previously thought this impossible, since a used car dealership was built in 2003 right in the middle of the land ODOT would need to extend Heller Drive to the west. They're either going to wedge it in between it and 35 or are going to tear it down. Either way, it's a very sensible plan that should have been considered to begin with.
Alternative A curves Heller north at the Little Beaver Creek bridge, then west to a terminus on Factory about midway between US 35 and Dayton-Xenia Road. It involves no changes to the recommended design for the Factory Road interchange, and no businesses would be harmed in its construction. This would be the easiest option to build. Traffic might be more of a problem, because the intersection of Factory and Heller would likely add an extra signal to this stretch of Factory. It might be less of a problem if Factory is realigned to the south end of Beaver Valley Road, because you could then share the Factory/Heller intersection with the old Factory Road RoW.
Alternative B addresses the traffic flow problems on Factory north of 35 by redesigning the interchange. Instead of the ramps for a tight diamond, a folded diamond would be built in the northwest quadrant of this intersection, terminating on Factory at the same spot Heller Drive terminates. Unfortunately, this design would completely cut off access to Nutter Park from Factory Road if it is built to miss the businesses north of the Bike Path.
Ges Prefers: Alternative A, with the realignment of Factory to Beaver Valley.