By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Now that Bowling Green has moved beyond the learning curve at the first two roundabouts in the community, the city is taking steps toward another one.
And this one comes with an added twist.
On Monday evening, Bowling Green City Council will hear the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the city to enter into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for a roundabout at the intersection of East Wooster Street and Campbell Hill Road.
This project will also create a median between Interstate 75 and Campbell Hill Road – so no left turns can be made to or from businesses in the corridor. Motorists will need to use the roundabouts to circle around.
The median is recommended as a safety improvement for the corridor since left turns from business driveways in the area are challenging and pose a safety risk. The goal is to provide a safer corridor by reducing the number and severity of vehicle crashes.
The work is being funded in part by a Federal Highway Administration program through ODOT, using Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funds of $915,000. Funding for the city’s portion, estimated at $625,000, will be included in the 2022 or 2023 budget.
The project involves the removal of the current signalized Wooster Street intersection at Campbell Hill Road/Alumni Drive, and construction of enhanced pedestrian crossings at the intersection with new curb ramps, sidewalks at the roundabouts and new pavement.
ODOT is expected to bid out the project in December of 2022, with project completion sometime in the late fall of 2023.
In 2014, the city’s East Wooster Street corridor was identified as an inefficient entryway into the city and Bowling Green State University. In 2015, an East Wooster Street Corridor Study was completed. That study recommended a roundabout at Wooster and Campbell Hill.
At the same time, the Ohio Department of Transportation authorized the design and construction of two additional roundabouts at the Interstate 75 entrance and exit ramps on East Wooster Street. Those roundabouts were opened last summer.
Though not on City Council’s agenda for Monday, the city is also planning another roundabout on the east side of the I-75 overpass at the intersection of Dunbridge Road and East Wooster Street.
Also being considered on the east side of the city is a possible roundabout at the intersection Napoleon Road and Campbell Hill Road. According to Wood County Engineer John Musteric, the Campbell Hill-Napoleon intersection was identified on a list compiled by the Ohio County Engineers Association as one of the worst intersections in the region for accidents.
Bowling Green officials are also looking to another roundabout as a solution to congestion problems at the intersection of Dunbridge Road and Wood Bridge Boulevard.
Major traffic congestion is problematic on Dunbridge and Wood Bridge roads due to a lack of turn lanes, high traffic volumes on Dunbridge Road, and the large number of vehicles coming and going during shift changes at businesses within the industrial park.
