In the past week, the second northbound lane on North Fairfield has been opened through the project, as well as the extended southbound left-turn lane. Through traffic now has full mobility in both directions. This appears to be due to the completion of all landscaping around the interchange. As a regular Wednesday night driver through the interchange, it actually looks nice.

The stoplight for the Jonathan Drive/North Fairfield Road intersection has also been finally installed, and is operational.

The only remaining parts of the project yet to be completed are the opening of the OH 835 to US 35 direct ramp and the activation of the second set of stoplights at the OH 835/North Fairfield Road intersection. I can see no reason why this has not taken place already.

The following changes have occurred since I last posted:

• As I had thought back in April, what was in use for pavement was not the final layer. That has been rectified along North Fairfield Road. Two lanes are now open southbound from Dayton-Xenia Road to Seejay Drive. The right lane northbound is still blocked off from Seejay Drive to Beaver-Vu Drive (incorrectly identified in previous posts as Meadowbridge Drive, mostly because that's what it turns into when it curves north to meet Dayton/Xenia Road), probably because landscaping work is still taking place east of the RoW. If that's the case, why are they still blocking that lane north of the Little Beaver Creek Bridge?
• A new pavement layer has been laid on OH 835 ver the entire length of the project. Speed limit signs have also been posted, for 50 MPH. The final lane lines have also been painted, complete with turn lanes for Seejay Drive and Patterson Road.
• Final pavement and lane lines have been laid down for all entry/exit ramps
• Sign gantrys are up to indicate each turn off of North Fairfield Road, clairifying a confusing situation I mentioned earlier in the month.
• A new pavement layer has being laid for US 35 through the interchange. The old turn bays onto N. Fairfield Road's original alignment are also being destroyed at this time.
• Demolition work has started at the US 35 end of OH 835's old exit ramp onto 35 westbound.
• A mini-frontage road is being built for the first three houses south of the interchange and east of N. Fairfield Road. Curb work on N. Fairfield was cutting off these houses' access to the road.

The things left to be done that I haven't mentioned yet are:

• The new turn lanes built into Seejay Drive at its terminus with North Fairfield Road
• The dedicated turn lane from OH 835 East directly to the US 35 west merge ramp
• Stoplight at North Fairfield and Jonathan Drive

With the project nearly complete, I can now see some deficiencies in the design, all of which have to do with the lack of right-hand turn lanes at various intersections. In no particular order, they are:

• OH 835 eastbound and Patterson Road
• OH 835 eastbound and Seejay Drive
• N. Fairfield Road northbound and Daytona Drive (Old North Fairfield Road)
• N. Fairfield Road northbound and Beaver-Vu Drive

I mentioned in the previous post that the contractor's clock for opening the interchange to traffic ran out in early June. Well, they beat it with a week to spare -- sort of.

The following changes occurred in the project since 31 May:

• The ramp from OH 835 East to US 35 West was closed. For a few weeks preceding this, temporary stop signs have been erected at the intersection of the exit ramp from eastbound 35 to 835/Patterson Road to get eastbound 835 traffic used to the idea of having to stop.
• All entrance/exit ramps between North Fairfield Road and US 35 -- and their signals -- have been opened to traffic.
• The permanent intersection of Seejay Drive/Lipton Drive/OH 835 opened.
• Pavement has begun on North Fairfield between the interchange and Jonathan Drive, which is the segment where the road narrows from four lanes to two.
• Sign gantrys are in place on US 35.

Remaining work to be done:

• Final pavement coat for the OH 835 extension.
• Ramp from eastbound 835 to westbound US 35 merge ramp so traffic doesn't have to navigate 50 feet of North Fairfield Road. The pavement and curbing is in place, so I suspect this is waiting until the last layer of pavement on 835 is put down.
• Opening of extra lanes on North Fairfield Road between Meadowbridge Drive and US 35. This appears to be waiting on the final layer of pavement for North Fairfield, which is partially done north of the interchange.
• Realignment of lanes on OH 835. This road isn't being used to its full built width from Little Beaver Creek to North Fairfield.
• Permanent signage on North Fairfield Road
• Landscaping
• Installation of traffic signal at North Farifield and Jonathan Lane

There are two outstanding problems with the current interchange setup. The first is that there is no deceleration lane marked off for the exit ramp from eastbound 35 to North Fairfield. This is insignificant compared to the OH 835/North Fairfield intersection. Being only partially complete, it is very confusing to know exactly where to turn to get on the 35 entrance ramp or OH 835. I certainly hope this will be cleared up when all lanes are open and all stoplights functioning, because it was never obvious from the engineering drawings exactly how confusing this intersection was going to be if they weren't.

Am I psychic or what?

Today, North Fairfield Road and OH 835 traffic were switched over to their new Rights of Way. Eastbound 35 to North Fairfield and North Fairfield to westbound 35 will be asked to use the existing US 35/OH 835 interchange, exactly like I theorized back around Christmastime. Westbound 35 to North Fairfield and North Fairfield to Eastbound 35 are being asked to use to use either Dayton-Xenia Road to Factory Road (north Beavercreek) or Shakertown Road (south Beavercreek) for their detour. Maps are available here with the suggested detours marked with not-exactly-high-contrast baby blue arrows.

Two lanes are open over the North Fairfield bridge out of a designed 5, which explains the comment I read earlier in the year about marking temporary lanes at this phase of the project. The blocked-off lanes are on the east side of the bridge, which makes sense considering the exit ramp work being done on that side of the project. Sight lines both north and southbound are amazing from the middle of the bridge.

The new OH 835 bridge is also not being utilized to its full width, which is more understandable since its concrete work was done in the last week or two. Some work has also been done on the permanent intersection between 835 and Seejay Drive, which will also include nearby Lipton Drive when it's all finished. Right now, Seejay Drive traffic has been diverted from the old temporary access road down the new extension to Lipton Drive, whereupon it uses the temporary Lipton Drive intersection. You can also see how the road is supposed to curve around to meet 835 when they get everything done.

The other consequence (mentioned in my last post below) is that the 45-day clock for completion of the exit ramps has now started. It runs out in early June, after which the following relatively minor tasks will be left:

• Signage
• Completion of North Fairfield's new paving and curbwork south of Seejay Drive. The old paving about a foot above the new RoW has already been removed, and a base layer of gravel has already been put down.
• Finishing the permanent intersection between OH 835 and Seejay Drive
• Reworking of the Patterson Road/OH 835 intersection. The road was widened between here and the existing US 35/OH 835 interchange, which makes me think they're going to try and curve 835 onto the Little Beaver Creek bridge more gently than currently aligned.
• Removal of the eastbound OH 835 to westbound US 35 ramp
• Stoplight installation at North Fairfield Road and Jonathan Lane
• Landscaping

Thoughts

What surprises me about all this is that it's happening so soon. I honestly didn't expect to see all this happen until much later this summer. I'm not complaining, though.

On both bridges, the connection between pavement and bridge could have been done much smoother. The pavement quality on the new 835 also looks a little suspect, leading me to wonder if this is the final layer of asphalt to be laid. I'd hate to see ODOT have to reskin all this next year because the contractor rushed the initial pavement job.

Detour signage:

• It's too small, especially on US 35 at the OH 835 interchange.
• Signage on eastbound Dayton-Xenia Road doesn't start until east of the North Fairfield Road intersection, which means for about the next week there will be a lot of irate motorists accustomed to turning south on North Fairfield to get to 35 discovering the official detour too late to be of any help.
• The use of Shakertown Road as an alternate to the official DXR/Factory Road detour to eastbound 35 only seems to appear on the website.

Between the unrelenting coldness of this winter (a big change from the mildness of the previous few winters) and all the late show (we only got 12 inches from the President's Day storm last weekend), not a whole lot has been done since Thanksgiving. About the only noticeable things that have happened are the appearance of light poles along the new North Fairfield Road RoW and the placement of poles for the new traffic signals.

All is not quiet, however. The City of Beavercreek's Winter 2003 newsletter just arrived in the mail today, and a status update on the interchange was above the fold on page one. Once the weather warms up and the snow finally melts, these things are scheduled to be completed:

• Completion of bridge construction work, including approaching slabs (probably referring to the OH 835 bridge, which doesn't have a deck yet -- much less connections to the pavement already in place since last fall)
• Minor paving work on sections of North Fairfield Road and Research Boulevard (meaning they'll finally even out the pavement on North Fairfield south of Seejay Drive and at the OH 835/Patterson Road intersection)
• Major work on the new traffic signal at North Fairfield and OH 835 (this only makes sense if the new segment of 835 is being completed for initial use as a detour)
• Installing temporary pavement markings (Hm, maybe all the lanes on North Fairfield won't be ready yet).

The article goes on the say that once these items are complete the new right of way for North Fairfield Road will be opened to traffic. Furthermore, once this happens the contractor has thirty days to get the signal at North Fairfield and Seejay working, and another fifteen days after that to complete all the ramps for the interchange. There will be no direct access to US 35 from North Fairfield until the ramps are complete -- detours to and from 35 will be marked during this period. Seems my guesses in the last entry weren't too far off on what was going to happen next.

One final thing. The article says the contractor is so far ahead of schedule that (barring unforseen circumstances) the interchange should be complete by late fall of this year.

Completed

• Reroute of bikeway under Little Beaver Creek bridge
• Repaved existing RoW north of Little Beaver Creek after leveling it with new lanes
• Girders lifted in place for Fairfield Road bridge mid-October 2002. Bridge is now decked and the new RoW is paved for the project's entire length
• Girders lifted in place for OH 835 bridge late November 2002.
• Pavement work on OH 835 from new Seejay Drive intersection to bridge over US 35
• Concrete bridgework on Little Beavercreek Bridge completed mid-December during a warm spell

In Progress

• Pavement work on OH 835 from bridge to new Fairfield Road RoW
• Pavement work on ramps from OH 835/North Fairfield Road to westbound 35
• Landscape buffer between OH 835 and US 35
• Grading for the westbound 35 exit ramp

Pending

What I feel is the most disruptive phase of the project will commence in a few months. The existing Fairfield Road RoW happens to be in the way of the exit ramps from both eastbound and westbound 35. While not that much of a problem for the former, it is a big problem for the latter. The existing North Fairfield Road will have to be closed north of 35 so grading for the westbound exit ramp can be completed to the new RoW.

So what can be done about it? I find the work emphasis on the new RoW and the new 835 especially interesting in light of one possible answer. I think the new RoW will be in use well before all the interchange ramps are. Eastbound 35 traffic wanting to get on North Fairfield Road will get off at the existing OH 835/Research Park Boulevard exit and take the new 835 to North Fairfield. North Fairfield traffic wanting to exit onto 35 westbound will have that ramp ready for them. Also, given the fact that a first course of pavement for the ramp from North Fairfield to US 35 eastbound was laid last summer, I expect a minimal amount of work will be needed to make that ramp active.

That leaves westbound 35 traffic wishing to exit onto North Fairfield. I see no alternative at this point but to detour that traffic onto Shakertown Road for some period of time. This might make driving interesting for local traffic in 2003 if this is the approach they decide to take.

If the contractor isn't running ahead of schedule because of the dry weather this summer, they're incompetent. The project is looking less like the Tokyo Business District after an attack by Godzilla and more like a limited-access freeway interchange. Just a sample of what's done to date:

• Pavement for North Fairfield Road's new lanes has been laid from Meadowbridge Drive at the north end of the project to the Bike Path, and has been in use for nearly a month. Since it was graded slightly lower than the existing RoW, ODOT has been spending the past month ripping up the old pavement on that stretch of North Fairfield.
• All piers for the bridge over Little Beaver Creek and the bike path are in place, and just last week ODOT started laying the girders for the span.
• The bike path diversion underneath the Little Beaver Creek bridge is being paved
• All piers for the bridge over US 35 are in place. Ornamental stonework on the western faces of the side piers is being laid
• Pavement for North Fairfield Road's new lanes has been laid from Seejay Drive to Jonathan Drive at the south end of the project, and like the new pavement at the other end has been in use since last month. Also like the other end, the new pavement was graded slightly lower than the existing RoW. I am assuming that when ODOT gets done with ripping out the old pavement north of the Creek they'll do the same thing to this stretch of road.
• Initial pavement for the merge/exit ramps on the south side of the interchange have been laid. This would be the exit ramp from 35 eastbound connecting to the North Fairfield Road/Seejay drive intersection, and the merge ramp from said intersection onto 35 eastbound.
• Pavement for the extension of OH 835 east of Patterson Road as been laid just about all the way to where the west bridge pier is being built. As of this week, it's in use down almost its entire length, with a temporary access road diverting traffic back down onto the original Patterson Road RoW just west of Bank One.
• The center pier for the OH 835 bridge over US 35 has been completed. Work on the east and west piers is halfway complete.

Construction plows ahead at full speed. All structures that were in the way have been demolished. Grading for all the ramps and the new RoWs for OH 835 and North Fairfield are done. Bridge piers for the US 35 and the Little Beaver Creek bridge are cast and in place.

But don't take my word for it. City of Beavercreek has posted photos from mid-June showing the state of construction. These photos are helpfully annotated with the path all the new ramps and highways will take. If anything, the grading for North Fairfield's new RoW is currently higher than in these photos.

Some of you who have read my commentary on Miami Valley Freeways might have noticed that I don't like ODOT. The following story demonstrates why no one else should, either.

Keith Maxwell owns a craft and hardware business on the west side of North Fairfield Road, just south of its current narrowing from five to two lanes. For obvious reasons, he has had an interest in the various plans for the US 35/North Fairfield Road interchange and attendant widening of North Fairfield Road over the years. The initial project plans called for his property to be bought in its entirety and used for the right-of-way for the new North Fairfield Road. Not a problem, as long as Ohio paid fair market value.

The final plan was another thing altogether. In an attempt to save $80,000 to $100,000 off the project's pricetag, they proposed to buy not the entire Maxwell property, but only a portion of its eastern end. The new North Fairfield would then be built on elevated grade only five feet from his front door. Mr. Maxwell was (to put it mildly) upset. He spent most of last year in increasingly desperate meetings with ODOT, who stubbornly refused to listen to his legitimate concerns over sticking a major heavily-traveled highway right on his front doorstep. At a meeting earlier this month, Beavercreek City Council discussed the matter, sided with Mr. Maxwell, and ordered a letter written to Governor Taft protesting ODOT's actions and demanding that they buy his entire property and pay his relocation costs.

With land being cleared for North Fairfield Road's new right-of-way as this is being written, the time for a diplomatic solution to ODOT's intransigence and stupidity may have already passed. Mr. Maxwell has retained lawyers with the express purpose of stopping the project via court injunction. Given the facts as I understand them at this time, he may very well succeed.

ODOT attempted to save $100,000 by shafting a local citizen. Their actions may end up saving Beavercreek, the state of Ohio, and the Federal government the entire $20 million price tag of this project. Only time will tell us what the final cost in human suffering and lives that would have otherwise been saved by improving North Fairfield Road will be.

Some recent developments, since I hadn't written about this project in a while:

Local Entertainment, Political Style

For years, a local developer was attempting to build a Wendy's in the empty lot east of Seejay Drive's current terminus with North Fairfield. The problem with this is that the lot is the planned location for the ramps to/from eastbound 35. In some unusually far-sighted maneuvering, Beavercreek City Council told the developer he could go ahead with his plans as long as he first spent $10 million to improve the 35/North Fairfield intersection. For some reason, the lot remained undeveloped. Within the last couple of months, I have noticed the developer has removed all but one of his signs from the lot. I am hoping this means ODOT has finally acquired the land.

The 2001 City Council Elections

During the Beavercreek city council elections last November, one of the candidates attempted to make the project a campaign issue by citing the alleged disruptions to city traffic that would happen over the next three years while it was under construction. Funny thing was, since the new North Fairfield right-of-way will be built just west of the existing RoW (as evidenced by the publically-available plans in the City Engineer's office and on the project website), there was no issue whatsoever -- except possibly with the candidate's assessment of the local public's gullibility. I am happy to report that the candidate in question finished next to last in the election.

I was pleasantly surprised today to discover that the city of Beavercreek commissioned a web site concerning this road project. I was also pleasantly surprised to see some small but (in my mind) critical differences between the plans outlined on the site and the plans that had been previously available at the city Engineer's office.

Eastern extension of SR 835

The preliminary plans called for a completely new right-of-way (RoW) to be built for SR 835 east from its existing interchange with US 35. As this would have meant building through both a patch of tallgrass prairie, over Little Beaver Creek, and through wetland next to the creek, getting this part of the project to pass an environmental impact assessment was (to put it mildly) problematic.

Based on what I saw at the website today, it appears saner heads prevailed for the final design. The final plan, instead of building a new road over the entire length of this phase, starts by widening the existing Patterson Road alignment from the US 35/SR 835 interchange south to the northeastern corner of the Patterson Park Church property. A new facility will then extend from this curve east over US 35 between the creek and Bank One, terminating on the new RoW for North Fairfield. This new plan completely avoids the environmentally-sensitive areas previously threatened, uses the existing Patterson Road bridge over Little Beaver Creek, and would require the demolition of four houses currently wedged between Patterson Road and US 35.

Additionally, the current loop ramp from SR 835 east to US 35 west will be demolished. Since the existing US 35 overpass at this point will still be in place, the city has the option of building an access road from 835 through the overpass, then across the bikeway to connect to the end of Research Park Drive. Police and fire access to southwestern Beavercreek would be much improved with such a road. Please keep in mind this is my idea only: there are currently no plans for what to do with the underpass after the loop ramp is removed.

Eastern terminus of SR 835

The preliminary plan called for the exit ramp from 35 west and the merge ramp onto 35 west to meet North Fairfield at a single intersection. The eastern extension of SR 835 would meet North Fairfield Road about 100 feet north of this. When I questioned city engineers about this over a year ago, they didn't seem to think this was a problem. I did -- it strongly reminded me of the relationship between the US 35/Woodman Drive interchange ramps and the Woodman Drive/Linden Avenue intersection in Riverside, which backs up horribly at rush hour.

Apparently, somebody else thought the original plan had problems, too. The plan on the website makes a critical 100-foot alignment change to the exit ramp from US 35 westbound, ending it at the planned SR 835/North Fairfield Road intersection. The merge ramp onto westbound 35 from North Fairfield Road is now by itself less than 100 feet south of this intersection. While a folded diamond would have been perfect to solve this problem, the proximity of Little Beaver Creek and two houses east of North Fairfield Road's current alignment limits the amount of land that can be purchased for the interchange north of US 35. Rather than reminding me of 35/Woodman Drive, I'm now reminded of the I-675/Grange Hall Road interchange when I look at the current plans. It's not perfect, but it's much better than the original plan.

Another nice touch is the addition of a dedicated ramp at SR 835's terminus to take eastbound traffic directly onto the westbound 35 merge ramp. This replaces the current loop ramp that is scheduled to be demolished.