BATAVIA, Ohio — The intersection of Ohio State Roads 132 and 222 will re-open Saturday evening, a spokesperson with the Ohio Department of Transportation said.
When drivers approach the newly opened pavement, they’ll be greeted with a new configuration: a traffic roundabout.
The previous intersection was in the shape of a ‘T’. Traffic from S.R. 132 would stop at a stop sign and then need to turn onto S.R. 222, which ran perpendicular at 55 miles per hour.
Data from a 2020 study showed 27 crashes from 2016-2018 with 13 of the crashes being angle collisions and 12 of those likely as a result of a westbound S.R. 132 vehicle "not choosing an acceptable gap and colliding with a northbound vehicle," the study stated.
The $2.5 million project was sponsored by the Village of Batavia.
Mayor C. Scott Runck told WCPO 9 over the phone that he believes the roundabout will enhance both safety and flow.
Under the old configuration, Runck said as many as 15 to 30 cars could be backed up at the stop sign. Line of sight difficulty from the overpass bridge has also been eliminated by the roundabout.
Runck said he posted a walk-through on Facebook earlier this week and got a lot of positive feedback.
While some counties have been using the traffic circles for decades, they’re becoming more prevalent in the state system, ODOT spokesperson Kathleen Fuller said.
They reduce the number of conflict points in the intersection while keeping traffic moving, she said.
“(It) will reduce the number of delays because you don’t have to sit and wait for the signal,” Fuller said.
While the intersection will reopen on Saturday, crews will continue working through the fall on lighting, landscapes and other aspects of the project.
The intersection’s reopening can’t come soon enough for Jacob Singleton, a property manager directly adjacent to the new roundabout. Road closures and long detours have tanked the summer business at his storage facility, he said. The other tenants have seen a reduction in traffic as well.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Singleton said. “It prevented new business from coming in. Nobody wanted to deal with this. ”
Singleton said last-minute changes of entrance plans and signage confused customers.
“It definitely displaced a lot of people’s routes,” he said.
Singleton said he's all for safety improvements and that he regularly saw a tow truck at the intersection after crashes. He hopes that the new configuration will help with safety because beforehand, “people would fly through here.”
“Come on by,” Singleton said of the businesses. “We’re gonna try to get it looking good again here soon.”
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