Truck ban eyed in year-long closure of Wolfpen-Pleasant Hill Road section
Miami Township officials are researching whether they can keep large trucks off Sugar Camp, Dry Run and Klondyke roads during a year-long closure of a section of Wolfpen-Pleasant Hill Road.
A half-mile chunk of Wolfpen-Pleasant Hill Road will closed to through traffic for $3-million-worth of road improvements from Monday, Sept. 12, through Friday, Sept. 1, 2017.
The Clermont County engineer’s office — which is overseeing the project – has established a detour using state Route 131 and U.S. 50 to keep motorists off Wolfpen-Pleasant Hill Road from 500 feet north of Raintree Drive to half a mile south.
“Miami Township trustees and administration empathize with local motorists that it will be inconvenient that the county will need to have the road closed for almost one year,” Miami Township Administrator Jeff Wright said.
“We are very happy that the project will be completed because the large-scale safety improvements justify the inconvenience.”
But Wright said Miami Township officials are concerned some motorists will ignore the official detours and instead use shorter, unofficial detours of Sugar Camp, Dry Run and Klondyke roads.
“We are concerned about that temporary increase in traffic affecting our residents and motorists since those roads are narrow and winding,” Wright said.
“Therefore, we are researching our ability to temporarily designate those roads off limits to through, large truck traffic during the time that Wolfpen is closed.”
Wright said that if Miami Township concludes it can enforce the ban, it will alert the public and erect signs.
Clermont County Engineer Pat Manger said Wolfpen-Pleasant Hill Road is important because it connects state Route 131, U.S. 50 and state Route 28 and that improvements to Wolfpen-Pleasant Hill Road will be substantial.
“The existing roadway will be realigned, several new retaining walls will be built and drainage improvements will be made to reduce water build-up and the related icing issues that have occurred on some sections of this road during winter months,” Manger said.
“The deterioration of the retaining walls, steep slopes, periodic icy road conditions and sharp curves will all be addressed in order to make the road safer for all who travel through this area.”
Wright agrees.
“This is a very large project that will completely rebuild a long section of Wolfpen Road where there have been serious accidents every year,” Wright said.
The road improvement project is being funded by the Clermont County Transportation Improvement District, which coordinates among local, county, state and federal agencies to secure funding for transportation projects that support economic development.
“The ability of the county TID to fund such a large project exemplifies why Miami Township’s partnership with and investment in the TID continues to pay a large return on that investment,” Wright said.
“Together we local governments leverage our dollars to complete these larger projects that in other counties may be insurmountable.”
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