Concern over increasing traffic congestion, crash rates and future development in the area led the trio in 2019 to start working on the area’s challenges. Two possible plans emerged. One included a diverging diamond interchange, which the Ohio Department of Transportation says features “an unusual, but easy-to-navigate design that greatly improves traffic flow.”
“Our additional questions really were, can we save the I-675 bridges with the diverging diamond?” Centerville Public Works Director Pat Turnbull told this news outlet. “Could we maybe tighten it up a little bit and save the bridges, which would substantially reduce the overall cost of the project? We also wondered how we could break this project that looked like it was approaching $100 million into multiple phases so we could kind of tackle them in more bite-sized pieces.”
“We think with a diverging diamond that’s a little bit smaller, we can still accomplish the goal of a better, more functional interchange, and we can save the bridges,” he said.
A first phase of the proposed project, which could start in 2029, calls for changes along Wilmington Pike south of Miami Valley Drive, including extending and widening dedicated left-hand turn lanes and improving pedestrian and bike access.
A second phase calls for similar improvements along Feedwire Road between Clinger Lane and Brookdale Boulevard. Phase Three calls for the widening of the southbound I-675 exit ramp to its existing intersection of Wilmington Pike.
A fourth phase would see more work along Wilmington Pike, including the diverging diamond interchange and I-675 ramps. Phase Five calls for work along Feedwire Road.
Traffic on the northbound and southbound ramps at I-675 and Wilmington Pike totaled 9,800 and 6,800, respectively in 1999, according to ODOT data. In 2023, that had increased to 13,500 and 9,100, respectively, increases of 40% and 35%.
“The traffic in this area has grown very substantially, and when traffic increases by that volume, it becomes a safety issue,” Turnbull said. “The number of accidents that are happening increase. It also takes a long time for people to travel through the area, so ultimately, that could have a negative impact on businesses (and) economic development.
“We also want to have an area that’s more connected with bicycles and pedestrian traffic, so we want a safer, more functional interchange.”
Centerville City Manager Wayne Davis said Congressman Mike Turner called that stretch of I-675 near Wilmington Pike “Main Street” for Wright Patterson Air Force Base, which has doubled its workforce from 19,000 employees in 1999 — military, civilian and contractors — to 38,000 employees in 2024.
In addition, Davis noted that ODOT identified the I-675 stretch near Wilmington Pike as one of the most dangerous “high-congestion, high-crash” areas in the state. ODOT said it would install a new automatic warning system along the interstate’s southbound lanes to warn motorists of any start-and-stop traffic at the interchange and reduce “end-of-queue” traffic crashes caused by unexpected congestion.
Plus, commercial activity around the interchange is expected to get even more busy with the planned mixed-use development of 72 acres on the south side of I-675, Davis said.
“It’s currently busy, and really, all the infrastructure up there will not support that level of commercial activity,” he said.
In 2019, Centerville, Greene County and Sugarcreek Twp. launched an Influence Area Feasibility Study to study traffic conditions and the feasibility of making long-term improvements to the interchange and local roadways. Feedback from the community last year helped in the decision-making process, a typical part of any ODOT project.
Turnbull said a Primary Interchange Project Study, funded separately by ODOT, Centerville and the Greene County Engineer’s Office, concentrated on long-term alternatives for improvements to the Interchange itself.
The additional study has now gone back to ODOT for its approval, Turnbull said.
“Ultimately they’ll give us feedback and hopefully eventually approve that alignment,” he said.
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