SPRINGDALE — Despite the closing Monday of a major thoroughfare, traffic moved smoothly as motorists used alternate routes for getting to work and to businesses in the area.

        Ohio 747 is closed until Friday to all traffic between Interstate 275 and Crescentville Road for railroad crossing repairs. But, police said, warning signs and detours worked effectively as did publicity about the closing.

        “It went as smoothly as we could expect,” said Springdale police Sgt. Mike Mathis. “Ohio 4 was heavy, but that is a main alternate route. And traffic was moving in both directions.

        “I think a lot of people up north in West Chester used the new Union Centre Boulevard connection to (Ohio) 747 to get to Interstate 75,” the sergeant said.

        “People just need to know it's going to take a little longer than usual to get to wherever they are going, use alternate routes, and plan accordingly,” he said.

        Northbound, the posted detour takes motorists from Ohio 747 west on Progress Place, north on Centron Place, and east on Crescent ville Road. Southbound motorists use the same detour in reverse. But, the sergeant said, most motorists used other routes — Ohio 4 and the interstate.

        Sgt. Mathis said notifications were sent to the many trucking companies in the area requesting they route drivers to I-75 or Ohio 4 rather than to the detour, which involves smaller streets. The trucking companies complied and the detour was effective in handling automobile traffic, he said.

        Mark DeLuca, a dispatcher for Yellow Freight Systems on Commerce Park Drive in West Chester, said the closing is not helping his business any but the company did get a warning from police to find alternate routes.

        The 100 to 150 trucks leaving the company's terminal were being routed to Ohio 4 via Crescentville Road or onto Union Centre Boulevard to I-75.

        The Ohio Department of Transportation did not object to the closing, which was scheduled by the city and CSX Railroad because the project was not an ODOT function.

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