Wednesday, February 17, 1999
Ohio 747 spot to get fixed early
Work at Millikin moved up
BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
HAMILTON — A deadly intersection in Liberty Township could be upgraded years earlier than expected now that the Butler County Engineer's Office has offered to work with the Ohio Department of Transportation on the project.
The intersection of Millikin Road and Ohio 747 was to have been improved no sooner than mid-2002. But that schedule could be cut by about two years if the county engineer's office does the design and engineering, said Kim Patton, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation's District 8 in Lebanon.
Plans call for:
• Left turn lanes to be added on Ohio 747.
• The intersection to be widened to provide better turning on all four corners.
• Clearing brush and trees along Ohio 747 that impair drivers' vision to the south.
The engineer's office offered its help several weeks ago, said spokesman Chris Petrocy.
“One of the things that we have looked at in order to speed the process up is we have offered to possibly do the plans for the state,” he said. “We also have concerns about the intersection up at Kyles Station (Road and Ohio 747), as well.”
A Fairfield High School dra ma teacher died at Millikin and Ohio 747 on Dec. 22 after the car she was driving was struck by two Lakota Local School buses. Kathleen Sullivan, 29, was on Millikin when she failed to stop at a stop sign and drove into the path of the buses traveling Ohio 747.
One bus was northbound and the other was headed south. Both bus drivers were hospitalized. There were no children on either bus.
From 1987-97, there were 68 accidents at the intersection, Ms. Patton said. Of those, one was fatal and 26 involved injuries.
After the Sullivan crash, Sonya Smith, who lives near the intersection, stepped up efforts to get it upgraded.
“Whenever there's an accident and we're outside, we hear it,” she said. “When you start having accidents twice, three times a month, you start to realize something needs to be done.”
She said the intersection is only going to get busier as the area around it develops.
“When I use that intersection, it seems as if there are people not paying close enough attention,” she said. “People kind of roll through it.”
Growth in recent years has caused major problems on Butler County's rural roads, making some intersections more dangerous, officials say.
“With the explosion of development that has taken place in southeastern Butler County, obviously a lot of these roads now have capacity and safety problems,” Mr. Petrocy said. “Intersection improvements have been one of our biggest priorities in southeastern Butler County.”
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