Grants pay for most Beavercreek road work
Projects funded by grants made possible by 2-mill levy.
Because of the 2-mill levy that voters passed in 2014, more than $23 million worth of work will be completed by next year.
Residents and commuters will contend with more road construction projects this year in the city of Beavercreek, as the city continues to utilize voter-approved tax dollars to improve the streets.
City leaders have budgeted about $5.8 million in road construction improvements for the year.
Because of the 2-mill levy that voters passed in 2014, more than $23 million worth of work, which started in 2015, will be completed by next year, according to Mike Thonnerieux, Beavercreek’s public services director.
Approximately $16.6 million of that cost is being paid for by grants that the levy’s passage
opened up for the city, Thonnerieux said.
“The key for us is that 2-mill capital levy,” Thonnerieux said. “Our partnerships to receive state and federal funds and our partnerships with other local agencies has been tremendous and allowed us to stretch those tax dollars.”
The ongoing project to widen Dayton-Xenia Road is slated to be done by the summer, and residents can expect to see “a lot more work” this spring on the southern portion as storm sewers get replaced and the road is reconstructed, said City Engineer Jeff Moorman.
“We will work to minimize the impact to homes and businesses in the area but you can’t avoid it entirely,” Moorman said.
Other major projects scheduled to get underway this summer are widening the intersection and increasing the capacity at National Road and Colonel Glenn Highway.
“It’s a heavily traveled route for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base commuters,” Moorman said. “When it’s done, it should reduce the amount of time people wait at that intersection to get to and from work.”
Mill and resurfacing work is slated to be done in the evening hours on North Fairfield Road by the Shoppes at Fairfield Commons to Lakeview Drive.
The work is welcomed by resident Larry Hess, who lives near North Fairfield, where potholes and dips plague the roadway.
“It’s like a highway out there really” said Hess, a truck driver who is accustomed to traveling roads bordered by orange barrels. “When I retire I’m just going to put them in my driveway so I feel at home.”
Other projects of note include resurfacing Indian Ripple Road between Sylvania Drive and County Line Road. That work is also expected to be done in the evening hours to minimize the impact to traffic.
Shakertown Road is getting some attention east of Grange Hall Road to Burntwood Drive. Construction involves widening Shakertown and building a sidepath that will connect the bike trail between Ankeney Middle School and the Autumn Springs neighborhood.
The city has an additional $2 million budgeted for resurfacing streets and the goal is to beat the record of “16 centerline miles” that were resurfaced in 2017, according to a city release.
Doing a number of significant road construction projects at the same time is necessary because of the time restrictions tied to the grants that are helping pay for the work, Moorman said.
“Whenever you build improvements like these there will be an inconvenience. We hope people will see the bigger picture and that it’s worth going through the aggravation of construction,” he said.