Roundabouts, R-Cuts, bypass discussed on radio show

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Ongoing and future road projects were a topic of dicussion during the most recent Mayor’s Conference/Commissioners Corner radio program that airs at 8:20 a.m. each Sunday on local radio stations 99.7FM WKSD/WERT 1220AM/104.3FM.

The guest on this past Sunday’s show was ODOT District 1 Deputy Director Chris Hughes, who covered a range of road and highway related topics, along with an explanation of funding challenges.

One of the things addressed during the program was roundabouts. A single-lane roundabout was built at U.S. 224/U.S. 127/Marsh Rd. in Van Wert four years ago and one is currently under construction at the intersection of U.S. 224 and Lincoln Highway, just west of the Van Wert City limits. Two more are scheduled to be built in the coming years, one at U.S. 224 and Van Wert Decatur Rd. in Van Wert, and the other at Ohio 118 and Wren Landeck Rd. north of Ohio City.

Roundabouts may not be popular with some in the motoring public but statistics show while crashes do occur in them, they’re almost always minor in nature.

“We’ve had some (roundabout) public perception issues to overcome in a county like Van Wert County,” Hughes said.

He added that roughly 90 percent of people he talks to say they were worried about navagating a roundabout but are now glad it’s in place, with more on the way, all with increased safety in mind. The do come with a sizable price tag.

“They’re not cheap, roundabouts are in the $2.5 million range,” he said. “The roundabout is one thing but it’s that approach roadway and one of the things we do with design on those is we build curvature going in to that. You don’t want (someone going) 55 miles per hour or 60 miles per hour coming right into that roundabout, that’s where you have some trouble.”

“There’s a lot of nuances with designing them,” he continued. “You’ve got the roundabout but then you’ve got somewhere between 500-1,000 feet of approach roadway that needs replaced as a part of that.”

Sometimes, the approach roadway requires ODOT to buy nearby property. He added no such purchase was necessary at U.S. 224/Lincoln Highway because there was enough right-of-way there and he said it will be the same case once the U.S. 224/Van Wert Decatur Rd. roundabout is built.

Hughes explained the funding for roundabout is based on five year injury and fatal crashes at an intersection.

Another topic was limited access roads off of a major route such as U.S. 30.

“We’ve got the active project at U.S. 30 and John Brown Rd. and a lot of people think that’s done – it’s not done, the first phase is done,” he said. “We’re building an R-Cut there. We have more projects coming along U.S. 30 next year – Ohio 49 and U.S. 30, both of those intersections because it’s two different intersections – are going to get R-Cuts and scheduled for 2029 is an overpass at Convoy Rd.”

According to Hughes, ODOT is in the process of trying to convert U.S. 30 into an interstate lookalike, but he acknowleged it will take decades. 

“Traffic has grown tremendously and if you look at I-75, the only way to get on and off is at a ramp,” he said. “You don’t have an intersection with a stop sign where you can get on I-75. There’s a long range plan but that plan is never set in stone. We’ve worked with the county, we’ve worked with the city, the townships, the schools to constantly evolve the plan.”

“Our goal right now is to address the most severe safety concerns,” he added.

The topic of a U.S. 127 bypass in Van Wert was also discussed and a rumor dispelled.

Many years ago, there was talk of a building such a bypass but it never came to fruition, mainly because it would have been up to the city to pay for it which wasn’t, and still isn’t, economically feasible.

“ODOT thinks it’s a good project and we’re supportive but there’s not a funding source readily available to fund something like that,” Hughes stated. “If locally the funds were able to be available or these funding programs are always changing, we’ve always got our ear to the ground. Funding is an ever changing and there’s a lot of politics behind transportation funding on the federal side and on the state side.”

Hughes said ODOT would be eager to be a partner to a bypass project if the funding somehow becomes available. He also alluded to a long waiting list of other projects around District 1 and the state.

“A lot of people think I have this unlimited pile of money at my disposal and it just doesn’t work that way,” he explained. “What we have at the local level is maintanence funds – repaving roads, fixing bridges – that’s what’s in our budget. That money is exclusively allocated by the Ohio General Assembly to do maintanence so I can’t take that money and build a roundabout with that or build a bypass with that.”

“There are a lot of good ideas out there but a good idea without funding doesn’t matter,” he said.

Sunday’s program can be heard in its entirety by clicking below.