In theory, we all prefer smooth, well-paved roads. In reality, it can take months of work, congested traffic, and millions of dollars to get there.
Many Wyoming drivers have just about had it with the roadwork, and while it could extend into the beginning of 2020, it could make for a more tolerable experience if we try to look for ways to look on the bright side.
- You weren’t asked to shell out extra to pay for it.
Talk to any Wyoming resident for some length of time, and sooner or later you’ll hear about the tax burden in our city. We’d all be hard-pressed to find someone eager to pay more to subsidize millions in roadwork. But portions of Springfield Pike’s subbase were crumbling and needed urgent repairs. It is our main thoroughfare and annual maintenance was nothing more than a “putting a band-aid on a severely distressed roadway.” Reconstruction of the failed roadway was the only solution.
In recent years, the City of Wyoming applied for and was awarded $5.84 million in grant funding, and a total of nearly $2.9 million 0% interest loans. (The City does not anticipate needed all the loan funding but it is available if change orders are required to finish the project.)
Each time you crawl through reconstruction on Springfield Pike, at least you can roll through knowing you and your neighbors weren’t asked to shell out extra cash to fix it.
- It’s going to be safer and a much smoother ride.
Once the metal plates and delays are gone, we should all enjoy a smoother ride. The upcoming “road diet,” which will restripe Springfield Pike to two lanes with a middle turning lane is a design that reduces rear-end and turning crashes and is safer for pedestrians and cyclists. In the 2007 Master Plan, residents were already calling for ways to reduce accidents on Springfield Pike and increase safety for pedestrian crossing. This project is in answer to that call and a means of fixing a deteriorating road.
The addition of new coordinated and computerized stop lights should make it easier for motorists turning left onto the road from driveways and side roads (as there will be fewer lanes to scan and the timed lights will create regular gaps in traffic). The coordinated lights will also allow traffic to move more efficiently. (After months of single-lane driving, we’ll all be thrilled about that.)
Plus, the switch to the road diet helped the City qualify for those grant dollars to do the road reconstruction underneath, so making it safer helped the City land free money for the project.
- Use this opportunity to enjoy some Springfield Pike favorites!
As you are wheeling down Springfield Pike, stop in with some of your favorites! It’s slow-going in the morning? Take a mental health break at Wyoming Community Coffee or Half-Day Cafe! Crawling home at dinnertime? Pull into Tela, CWC, or LaRosa’s! Please help support our business community while they too contend with the roadwork. (We promise, the view of those orange barrels is better from inside our local restaurants!)
- It’s going to be a much more attractive street.
You can tack this little number to your vision board for the future of Wyoming!
- Be glad for the excuse to take life slower (for now).
As Dave Burstein recently posted on Facebook, the roadwork is a chance to find kindness in our neighbors.
- You live in a community that is prioritizing its infrastructure.
We’ve all plowed through some real road-gobblers in neighboring communities. It can be enough to make drivers route away from some areas. Yes, right now we are living with a sea of orange barrels and changing traffic patterns, but your patience now is earning you future bragging rights. You’ll be the envy of all your friends in nearby cities, what with your freshly paved streets to go with some of the most reliable snow-plowing in the region.
- If there is a problem, the city really wants to know about it.
A few residents have experienced tire punctures in recent weeks on Springfield Pike. If you spot a pothole, please contact Terry Huxel (thuxel@wyomingohio.gov) immediately so the city can send out a crew immediately. The folks working on Springfield Pike are contracted by ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation), and while city crews are checking and sweeping the street frequently, residents are the City’s eyes and ears, so if you spot a problem, please don’t hesitate to contact Terry Huxel or City Manager Lynn Tetley (ltetley@wyomingohio.gov).
- So far (knock on wood please), the project is ahead of schedule.
Superstitious members of city staff don’t want our collective hopes to get too high, but thus far, the work is running ahead of schedule. Even with all of the above, the best part of this roadwork will be when it’s finished!
