WestChesterBuzz.com

Jason Williams reports:

A new website offers motorists real-time updates on delays, road closures and conditions, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.

The website, www.ohgo.com, is more user-friendly across multiple digital devices, including personal computers, tablets and smartphones, ODOT officials say.

The website offers users updates on accident sites, construction areas and travel times. Updates can be viewed on an interactive map, and the website allows users to share information on Facebook and Twitter.

Greater Cincinnati updates can specifically be viewed at www.ohgo.com/dashboard/cincinnati.

The website replaces www.BuckeyeTraffic.org.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: Cincinnati traffic, Cincinnati traffic updates, Cincinnati traffic website, ohgo.com, Ohio Department of Transporation website, Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio traffic, Ohio traffic information website, Ohio traffic updates

As part of the U.S. 42 widening project, culvert work will require the closure of a portion of U.S. 42 next week, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The closure will be in place between Cox Road and Tylersville Road, just north of the entrances to the Pisgah Youth Park baseball fields, 9116 Columbus-Cincinnati Road, and the West Chester Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 9117 Columbus-Cincinnati Road.

The closure will begin Monday, June 11 and is scheduled to be completed by 5 p.m., Friday, June 15 with U.S. 42 reopened to traffic at this time.

Northbound U.S. 42 traffic will be detoured north to Cox Road to east on Tylersville Road to U.S. 42. Southbound traffic will be detoured west to Tylersville Road to south on Cox Road to U.S. 42.

Access to all addresses will be maintained with addresses north of 9117 Cincinnati-Columbus Road accessible from Tylersville Road and addresses south of and including 9117 accessible from Cox Road.

Arrow boards and/or signs will be in place prior to the work zone to alert motorists of the upcoming road closure. To help ensure the safety of the construction workers as well as the traveling public, motorists should remain alert, reduce their speed and watch for stopped traffic.

The completion date for the entire U.S. 42 project is June 2013. The project includes widening U.S. 42 to three lanes. The widening area will provide a through lane in each direction and a middle two-way left-turn lane, from Fields-Ertel Road north to Butler-Warren Road. It also includes left turn lanes on both approaches of Dimmick Road.

Crews hope to have all major items completed by Dec. 2012 with the exception of surface course asphalt, final striping and final grade/landscaping.

West Chester Township offers a monthly construction update meeting for property owners in the impacted area. The meetings are held the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 a.m. in Township Hall, 9113 Cincinnati-Dayton Road. Updates are also available on the township’s website www.WestChesterOH.org. The next meeting will be held July 11 due to Independence Day falling on the first Wednesday of July.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: construction, delays, Ohio Department of Transportation, railroad crossing, traffic, U.S. 42, U.S. 42 project, U.S. 42 West Chester, West Chester construction, West Chester delays, West Chester Road, West Chester Traffic

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

Photos: Woodland Elementary student surprised with bike- A Woodland Elementary School third grader was surprised when he was awarded a new bike last Wednesday morning after winning a poster contest promoting safety near schools. Woodland’s Blake Scherer was the only student from Southwest Ohio to win a bike in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s “Every Move You Make, Keep It Safe” school safety contest.

Mahogany’s troubles no secret – Cincinnati Enquirer’s Jane Prendergast took a deeper look last week on the controversial deal to give and loan nearly $1 million in city money to Mahogany’s owner Liz Rogers of Liberty Township, to open her restaurant at The Banks in Downtown Cincinnati.

Lakota students make video for Ohio Children’s Trust Fund – LakotaTV, a student-led television network, is looking to receive votes for its video produced for the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund 2012 video contest. As part of the contest, the OCTF will award $5,000 to four schools. According to Lakota East junior Matthew King, who is involved with LakotaTV, the winners will be scored in six categories. One category is public votes.

Lakota to have highest fees in region next school year – Cincinnati Enquirer’s Michael D. Clark shared the concerns of Lakota student athletes with the pay-to-play athletic fee. Next school year, Lakota’s $550 per sport fee will be the most expensive rate in Greater Cincinnati.

West Chester concert series – The 2012 Fifth Third West Chester summer concert series at Keehner Park is now underway way after Saturday night’s performance from BlueStone Ivory. The free Saturday concerts will take place at the Keehner Park amphitheatre from 7 to 9 p.m. The series ends Sept. 3 with a performance by the West Chester Symphony. The last concert will be the only one in the series to be performed on a Monday.

Lakota East student doesn’t give up on way to graduation – Unable to speak and forced to use a wheelchair, cerebral palsy has made Gregory Nelson’s life difficult, but it hasn’t damaged his personality and it didn’t prevent him from graduating with the rest of the Lakota East senior class on Sunday.

School’s out for summer – Lakota students wrapped up the 2011-2012 academic school year when they were released Thursday on early dismissal. Some students will be attending summer school, which takes place in two sessions from June 11-28 and from July 2-20. Morning classes will take place from 7 a.m. until 11:20 a.m., while afternoon classes will take place from noon until 4:20 p.m.

Military enlistees to graduate from Lakota West Sunday – A total of 23 military enlistees will graduate from Lakota West during commencement at Miami University’s Millett Hall at 1 p.m. Sunday. According to Lakota West principal Richard Hamilton, the high school typically has around 8-to-10 graduates enter the military every year.

Posted in: Board of Education, Business, Events, Levy news, News, Recreational events, Schools, Sports, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Blake Scherer, Gregory Nelson, Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota East graduation, Lakota East Gregory Nelson, Lakota East Sports, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota West, LakotaTV, Liberty Township business news, liz rogers, Liz Rogers Liberty Township, mahogany's bar and grill, mahogany's bar and grill banks, Matthew King, Ohio Children's Trust Fund, Ohio Children's Trust Fund 2012 video contest, Ohio Department of Transportation, the banks, the banks Cincinnati, Valerie Montgomery, West Chester Concert Series, Woodland Elementary, Woodland Elementary School

A Woodland Elementary School third grader was surprised when he was awarded a new bike Wednesday morning after winning a poster contest promoting safety near schools.

Woodland’s Blake Scherer was the only student from Southwest Ohio to win a bike in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s “Every Move You Make, Keep It Safe” school safety contest. Overall, ODOT selected 36 winners – teachers, students and schools – from all over Ohio.

Scherer’s winning entry demonstrated safe student crossing of streets near schools by using marked crosswalks and remaining alert and attentive while walking to school.

According to ODOT, There were 11,734 bicycle and pedestrian‐related crashes that occurred near Ohio K‐8 schools resulting in 244 fatalities and 7,350 injuries between 2008 and 2010.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Blake Scherer, Ohio Department of Transportation, Valerie Montgomery, Woodland Elementary, Woodland Elementary School

Sue Kiesewetter reports

Two more gigantic metal boxes used in the production of industrial gases need to make the 60-mile trip from the Ohio River in Sedamsville to an AK Steel supplier in Middletown.

The third of four boxes will leave Kinder Morgan’s Sedamsville terminal Tuesday for its two-day journey through Hamilton and Butler counties to its final Yankee Road destination at Middletown’s Air Products and Chemicals Inc.

If all goes as expected, the fourth and final box will begin its journey May 31, said Elizabeth Lyons, public information specialist with the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Officials say there have been few problems with the first two loads, but the transport is taking a week longer than expected. With the boxes weighing between 238,562 and 425,800 pounds – 119 to 213 tons – the trailer carrying the equipment moves at no more than 5 mph.

“We think it’s going very well. Sometimes when you get these super loads you just don’t know how long it’s going to take, said Dan Fahringer, manager of project logistics at Air Products.

“We haven’t encountered any major problems. Although it’s taken longer than everybody thought.’’

Slowing down the delivery of the first two loads were requests to keep vehicles off the roads when schools were being dismissed, pulling over to let traffic go by when prudent, and moving utility lines to accompany the height of the equipment.

With half the equipment delivered, the crews are more familiar with the roads they are traveling, which should reduce delivery time from a three-day trip to two days.

“It was a pretty optimistic and aggressive schedule,’’ Fahringer said. “We’re getting better.”

The boxes measure between 146 and 175 feet in length, 18.5 feet wide and 19.5 feet high.

An entourage of 50 is accompanying each trailer carrying the equipment and includes a minimum of four Duke Energy bucket trucks, four Ohio State Highway Patrol, one Ohio Department of Transportation, and two private vehicles.

In the last two weeks, two of the four boxes have traveled through Hamilton and Butler counties en route to Air Products. There, they will be used by Air Products to produce industrial gases for AK Steel and other clients in the food, chemical, electronic, medical and other industries.

Posted in: News, Traffic |

Tags: Tags: AK Steel, AK Steel Middletown, AK Steel West Chester, Duke Energy, Ohio Department of Transportation, traffic

Sue Kiesewetter reports

Four gigantic metal boxes used in the production of industrial gases are being shipped to an AK Steel supplier in Middletown and could cause traffic delays along its route in Hamilton and Butler counties beginning Wednesday.

The equipment is so large that four Duke Energy bucket trucks will travel with the equipment so that utility lines can be raised when needed.

“This is too tall for interstate overpasses,’’ said Mike Moreland with the Ohio Department of Transportation. “Utility lines might have to be moved along the route.”

A caravan that includes Duke’s trucks and the trailer carrying the equipment will be escorted by four Ohio State Highway Patrol, one Ohio Department of Transportation and two private vehicles.

In Butler County, the caravan will be joined by a crew from the engineer’s office and, in Middletown, by the police department, officials said.

“We get involved to help plan the route to make sure the load doesn’t exceed the weight limits on any bridges, the roads aren’t too narrow and underpasses are high enough,’’ said Chris Petrocy, spokesman for the Butler County Engineer’s Office.

Crews from the engineer’s office will remove signs at intersections the caravan will travel through and then reinstall the signs when it passes. Extra gravel may also be placed on some roadways.

The first of the oversized cold boxes will leave from the Ohio River at the Anderson Ferry at 9 a.m. Wednesday and should arrive at Air Products and Chemicals Inc., on Yankee Road in Middletown, by 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

At 238,562 pounds – about 119 tons – it is the smallest of the four pieces of equipment. The equipment measures between 146 and 175 feet in length, 18.5 feet wide and 19.5 feet high. The larger pieces weigh between 256,728 and 425,800 pounds – or 128 to 213 tons.

The boxes are used by Air Products to produce industrial gases used by AK Steel along with food, chemical, metal process, electronic, medical and other clients.

It is part of the company’s plan to build, own and operate a new air separation unit, hydrogen production facility and make improvements to liquefier operations to produce industrial gases.

The trailer carrying the rectangular shaped boxes will move no faster than 5 miles per hour on its journey.

Each cold box will be shipped separately, with two-day shipments leaving Wednesday, Friday, May 21 and May 24.

Posted in: News, Traffic |

Tags: Tags: AK Steel, AK Steel Middletown, AK Steel West Chester, Duke Energy, Ohio Department of Transportation, traffic

Work on two light towers Wednesday will require lane closures on southbound Interstate 75, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The first job, which will involve crews erecting a light tower, will take place between Hamilton-Mason Road and Tylersville Road (mile marker 23) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday. During the job, the left lane will be closed.

That night, while workers repair a different light tower, the right lane just before the ramp to Galbraith Road (mile marker 11) will be closed from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Law enforcement officers will be used for traffic control during each closure. Lighting contractor American Lighting & Signalization will be performing the work.

Arrow boards and signs will be in place prior to the work zone to alert motorists of the upcoming road closure.

To help ensure the safety of the construction workers as well as the traveling public, motorists should remain alert, reduce their speed and watch for stopped traffic while passing through the work zone.

For additional information on lane and road closures caused by construction, accidents or other related traffic events, visit www.BuckeyeTraffic.org.

U.S. 42 closure: Culvert replacement will require closing U.S. 42 between Cox Road and Tylersville Road from Feb. 18 to March 2, according to ODOT. The closure will be approximately 475 feet north of Manors Drive.

The posted detour for northbound U.S. 42 traffic will be north (left) on Cox Road to east (right) on Tylersville Road, back to U.S. 42. The detour for southbound U.S. 42 traffic will be the same in reverse. The detour is an additional 1.29 miles.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: Cox Road, Cox Road West Chester, I-75, I-75 construction, I-75 lane closures, I-75 work, Interstate 75, Ohio Department of Transportation, Tylersville Road, Tylersville Road at I-75, Tylersville Road West Chester, U.S. 42, U.S. 42 project, U.S. 42 West Chester, West Chester Traffic, West Chester traffic delays

Cincinnati Enquirer’s Sue Kiesewetter reports:

Motorists getting on or off Ohio 4 Bypass at its southern intersection with Ohio 4 will have to use a newly constructed connector road beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

No left turns will be permitted at the intersection of Ohio 4 and Ohio 4 Bypass, said Ben Mann, Fairfield’s city engineer.

Farther north on the bypass, the Ohio Department of Transportation recently introduced a new system at three intersections that don’t allow motorists to make direct left turns onto the bypass; instead they must turn right then turn left at new turn lanes. The change was made to speed traffic flow.

The new 600-foot-long connector road at the southern end is part of Fairfield’s portion of the Ohio 4 Bypass improvement project. It will be known as Diversion Road.

When the city begins switching traffic from existing pavement to the new road at 8 p.m., southbound traffic exiting the bypass will be directed to Diversion Road. From there they can go north or south on Ohio 4, Mann said.

Temporary lighted message boards have been placed on Ohio 4 to alert drivers of the changes. Permanent, lighted guide signs have also been placed on Ohio 4, Diversion Road and Ohio 4 Bypass.

Southbound motorists exiting the bypass who want to continue on Ross Road will not use Diversion Road.

Those driving northbound on Ohio 4 will have to turn right on Diversion Road and then left onto the bypass.

Once construction is completed next summer, northbound motorists will be able to turn directly onto the bypass from Ohio 4. (more…)

Posted in: News, Traffic |

Tags: Tags: Ben Mann, ODOT, Ohio 4, Ohio 4 Bypass, Ohio Department of Transportation

Cincinnati Enquirer’s Cliff Peale reports:

Road crews will be out in force all night and before dawn Tuesday, hoping to blunt the traffic impact of surprise snow showers that paralyzed traffic Monday afternoon and evening.

Workers and students headed back from their holiday vacation will be battling frigid temperatures and snow showers that are expected to taper off through the morning.

Sporadic snow is expected throughout the night with temperatures falling to about 15 degrees and wind chills as low as 5 degrees, the National Weather Service in Wilmington said.

• National Weather Service: West Chester 7-day forecast
• AccuWeather.com: West Chester extended forecast

There won’t be much snow accumulation, totaling less than an inch.

“It’s going to depend on where you are and where the snow showers run through,” meteorologist Jeff Sites said.

Monday, the snow snarled trips for people trying to drive all over Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The biggest crash came on southbound Interstate 75 in southern Kenton County as 41 cars slammed into each other in a spectacular pileup that sent six people to local hospitals. None had life-threatening injuries. (more…)

Posted in: News, Traffic, Weather |

Tags: Tags: Butler County weather, Liberty Township weather, National Weather Service, ODOT, Ohio Department of Transportation, snow, West Chester snow, West Chester weather

The unloading of a 100-foot long lighting tower from a semi-tractor trailer on southbound Interstate 75 could slow down traffic Wednesday afternoon.

The tower will be offloaded on the shoulder of I-75 between the Liberty Way and Tylersville Road exits from 3 and 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Arrow boards and signs will be in place to alert motorists of the upcoming work.

To help ensure the safety of the construction workers as well as the traveling public, motorists should remain alert, reduce their speed and watch for stopped traffic while passing through the work zone.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: construction, delays, I-75, I-75 work, Interstate 75, Ohio Department of Transportation