TROY TOWNSHIP — Richland County officials took the next step Thursday toward a proposed $3 million roundabout at the intersection of Lexington-Springmill and Home roads.
The county Board of Commissioners approved Engineer Adam Gove’s request to apply for a $500,000 state grant to help pay for portions of the project not covered through ODOT’s Highway Safety Improvement Program.
The intersection was identified as one of the most dangerous in the county during a safety study of the Lexington-Springmill Road corridor between Cockley Road and Marion Road Avenue.
Gove said the Troy Township intersection averaged more than six injury accidents per year between 2017 and 2022, including one fatality.
“We do feel that this is the best solution for that intersection,” the engineer told commissioners.
The ODOT program uses federal funds to address safety concerns at intersections and corridors throughout Ohio, according to Gove, who said 90 percent of the project’s construction will be covered by grant funds.
Gove will now ask the Ohio Public Works Commission for the half million dollars to help replace a nearby bridge on Lexington-Springmill Road and a culvert crossing on the road just north of the T-shaped intersection.
“There are a couple of items that the state has said they are not going to fund. So those two are going to be locally funded and that’s kind of what this grant request is going towards,” Gove said.
(Below are photos taken Thursday morning at the intersection of Lexington-Springmill Road and Home Road, site of a planned roundabout. The story continues below the photos.)
Commissioners asked about the need for the roundabout. Commissioner Tony Vero said it was one of the topics he heard most about this spring during his primary campaign for re-election.
Gove said a recent public comment period on the project was split 50/50 among residents for and against the roundabout project.
He said his office received 33 comments/questions and that each was posted on his office’s website, along with responses to each.
(Below is a PDF showing the 33 comments received from residents regarding a proposed roundabout at the intersection of Lexington-Springmill Road and Home Road. The engineer’s responses are below each comment.)
He said a lot of the comments were from residents concerned about tractor-trailer trucks traveling north beyond the intersection and encountering a hill with an 8 percent grade on Lexington-Springmill.
“We feel that they have over a half mile to build up speed before they hit the steepest part of that hill,” Gove said.
“I know trucks today struggle with getting up that hill. So I don’t think that changes. They struggle now … they’re going to struggle in the future, even with this project,” the engineer said.
“They make it up the hill. They don’t usually stop. They make it up the hill and they will continue to make it up that hill,” Gove said.
He said people asked about adding a passing lane to allow motorists to go around trucks that may labor on the hill.
“That’s a huge expense and it’s not just adding a lane up the hill. You’ve got to have a run out length to make sure people can get up to speed and pass trucks.
“At that point, you’re almost talking about adding a third lane all the way to the Marion Road intersection, which would be a significant cost,” he said.
more coverage of a proposed roundabout at lexington-springmill, home roads
He said safety is his biggest concern, including people crossing the busy road via the B&O Trail on the road with a 50 mph speed limit.
“Traffic will be going slower than it currently does (once the roundabout is opened). Now we see vehicles going 60 to 70 miles an hour through that section of roadway.
“They will have to slow down to about 20 to 25 miles per hour to get around the roundabout. So people on the bike trail will have more time to react and they will only have to react to one lane of traffic,” the engineer said.
Gove said the intersection planned for the roundabout has proven to be more dangerous than the intersection at Lexington-Springmill and Cook Road to the south.
“The Cook Road intersection from a safety standpoint is actually not as bad,” he said. “From a functional standpoint, it’s probably worse.
“I know during the morning and afternoon rush hours, there can be a significant amount of traffic that backs up on Cook Roads.
“So they a long wait to make that turn off with Cook Road. But there were not as many accidents at that location (during the traffic study),” Gove said.
“We felt we scored better for the safety funds at the Home Road intersection,” he said.
The engineer said a traffic signal would not be an improvement at Lexington-Springmill and Home roads.
“That’s not much of an (improvement). It’s almost a similar solution.
“Then you would be stopping traffic on Lexington-Springmill that maybe you wouldn’t be otherwise. You could have one car pull up on Home Road, trip the signal and have a bunch of traffic stopped on Lex-Springmill,” Gove said.
“So it’s not as efficient as a roundabout in moving vehicles,” he said.
Gove said the roundabout will be as large as the one finished in 2022 at the intersection of Illinois Avenue/Cook Road and Mansfield-Lucas Road
“Trucks go through that one fine. I don’t anticipate any issues with trucks on this one,” he said.
Gove said the intersection would be closed for about 90 days during construction, which is expected to begin in the spring of 2026. The B&O Trail would also be closed during that period while it is also re-routed through the intersection.
He said the Illinois Avenue/Cook Road and Mansfield-Lucas Road intersection averaged six to seven injury accidents a year until the roundabout was constructed two years ago.
“I think we just had our first minor injury accident (at the roundabout),” Gove said. “It was a rear-end accident coming into the roundabout that involved a drunk driver.”
Commissioner Darrell Banks said he didn’t think the City of Mansfield has had any injury accidents at the roundabout it installed at the intersection of Middle Bellville and Straub roads in 2012.
“If we can reduce six or seven accidents a year down to the same thing you’ve done on Illinois Avenue, it’s definitely (a good thing),” Banks said.
(Below is a PDF showing the results of a 2021 traffic safety study done along Lexington-Springmill Road from Cockley Road to Marion Avenue Road.)
