That will create a wider, smoother route from Interstate 675 to the business park, which has been the focus of job growth, more flexible land use and housing plans since before the road construction started in June 2021.
“I can say we are excited about the upcoming completion of the County Line Road widening project. The added lanes will benefit the research park by relieving some of the traffic congestion during rush hour,” MVRP Foundation President Charlie Giles said in an email to the Dayton Daily News.
The research park is now home to more than a dozen businesses, CRT Technologies, Community Tissue Services, Kodak, Northrup Grumman, Reynolds & Reynolds and Schneider Electric among them.
“We are fortunate that through its construction, traffic was minimally impacted,” Giles added. “We look forward to the fresh, new look and easier traffic flow.”
There has been interest in both new construction and redevelopment of existing buildings in the Research Park site.
Life Connection of Ohio bought about 8 acres for its new regional headquarters near Woodman Drive and Research Boulevard, bringing it closer to Community Tissue Services, which has expanded operations at the park.
Credit: FILE
Credit: FILE
JobsOhio and the Dayton Development Coalition have provided an economic incentive package to help modernize 1900 Founders Drive, touting the building on about 10 acres as a prime future site for military contractors with ties to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Meanwhile, the city of Kettering has approved expanding MVRP land uses to include restaurants and residential sites on a limited basis. And a developer has been discussing building a 300-unit apartment complex on about 28 acres at the corner of Research Boulevard and County Line near the Beavercreek corporation line.
County Line’s final paving started Wednesday. The joint project between Beavercreek and Kettering to expand the road from three to five lanes from Vale Drive to Dorothy Lane is about 85% complete, said Kettering’s Chad Ingle, a project manager.
The paving is contractor R.B. Jergens’ “last big push … then it’s all the fine little details” that include road striping, lighting and adjusting traffic signals, Ingle said.
“We’re rounding the corner, for sure,” he added, noting that with decent weather, the expanded area should be done the first week of September.
Federal funds will cover about 60% of the project, documents show. The remaining cost will be split 50/50 by Beavercreek and Kettering.
The two cities partnered to analyze traffic patterns for the project that added a lane in each direction. Records show an average daily traffic count of 16,260 vehicles in 2015 is projected to grow to 21,000 by 2035.
The nearly two-thirds of a mile being widened is essentially the only part of a 10.5-mile route from Beavercreek to Moraine that is not five lanes, Kettering Assistant City Engineer John Sliemers has said.
Research Boulevard begins in Beavercreek and meets County Line, which is five lanes until intersecting with Vale. County Line becomes Stroop Road south of the Dorothy intersection and goes into Moraine, he added.
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