Jun. 4—The longtime traffic bottleneck on South Gilmore Road is now being addressed, but it will take several months for the wider roadway to be a reality.

The project that started Monday will include a 30-day closure of the stretch between Resor and Mack roads.

“The widening of South Gilmore Road to allow for two continuous southbound lanes will eliminate a dangerous merge and reduce the potential for assured clear distance accidents,” said Public Works Director Ben Mann.

The city was awarded nearly $2.46 million from the federal Surface Transportation Program grant in late 2020 through the Ohio Kentucky Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments. The project, which in total is $4.5 million, also includes new sidewalks between Planet Drive and Mack Road.

The 30-day closure of the road is caused by the installation of what Mann described as “two large diameter and relatively deep storm sewers crossing the road.” The rest of the construction will be able to accommodate one lane of traffic in either direction through its completion, which is expected to be at the beginning of November.

The detour for traffic traveling north on South Gilmore from Interstate 275 is west on Mack Road, north on Winton Road and then east on Resor Road. The reverse would be the detour for traffic traveling south.

Other aspects of the project include new curb, retaining walls, full-depth asphalt, thermoplastic pavement markings, and a new mast arm traffic signal at the intersection with Resor Road. Strand Associates led the design team of the project and John R. Jurgensen Company was awarded the construction contract.

The project will also discourage truck traffic as there would be narrower lanes and a median, and Mann previously said it will also “look less like a truck route.”

This widening has been a need for nearly two decades. It was identified from a June 2006 Burgess and Niple South Gilmore/Winton roads corridor study, which highlighted the congestion of South Gilmore between Mack and Resor roads.

City Council was presented the recommendations, along with others, in 2008.

But other necessary recommendations were addressed first, including improvements at the Mack and South Gilmore roads intersection, the South Gilmore Road widening to fix the bottleneck south of Mack Road to the Interstate 275 interchange, and several improvements to the I-275 interchange, including widening the overpass and various on and off ramps to the interstate.

Before this current South Gilmore Road project, nearly $13.5 million had been invested into the corridor to help move traffic, and most of the funding came from outside sources.

Motorists should be advised that another project near the South Gilmore Road widening is a bridge repair in Hamilton on Holden Boulevard/Bilstein Boulevard.

South Gilmore changes names to Holden as it crosses Ohio 4. This also provides direct access from Ohio 4 to Symmes Road and it will be closed from just past the Fairfield High School entrance to just before Standen Road will be closed for 270 days.