City’s $4M roundabout nears completion

Kauffman Road now 2 lanes between Col. Glenn and Lindberg.

FAIRBORN — Construction on Kauffman Avenue is nearly complete, and drivers will soon be using Fairborn’s first roundabout.

The more than $4.3 million project will wrap up in the next two weeks, said Fairborn’s city engineer Lee Harris.

Fairborn residents and those passing through the city will be driving on the road by the end of May.

Construction started in August. In addition to the roundabout, Kauffman Road has been widened from one lane to two, between Colonel Glenn Highway and Lindberg Drive.

Sunesis Construction Co. has been doing the work on Kauffman Road. All that is left for the project is final asphalt paving, landscaping, pavement striping and adjusting the signals at Dayton-Yellow Springs Road and Garland Avenue, Harris said.

The construction project has come in on time, but may go over the original $4.3 million budget. Harris said the city saved on other construction projects this year and plans to put those savings toward the Kauffman Avenue project if it goes over budget. Plans for construction changed to add additional

landscaping to the corridor.

The city plans to plant more than 100 cherry trees along Kauffman Avenue.

Fairborn worked with an organization called 2,000 Cherry Trees to plan for the cherry trees in the city. 2,000 Cherry Trees seeks to plant 2,000 cherry trees in and around Dayton as a symbol of gratitude from Japan to the United States.

“When those trees start blooming next May, I think it’s really going to be a sight to see coming up Kauffman or the bike path,” Harris said. “And this will be something uniquely Fairborn.”

The cherry trees will outnumber the trees that had originally been on Kauffman Avenue and the surrounding area before construction.

Since this will be the city’s first roundabout, Harris said they plan to put information and tips for navigating roundabouts on the city’s website.

He said the old traffic signal at the intersection of Kauffman and Colonel Glenn was about 50 years old, and replacing it with a roundabout will significantly cut down on maintenance and energy costs.

“The roundabout will allow us to be more handsoff with that intersection now,” he said.