Lee Harris, Fairborn city engineer, said once the nearly $8 million Maple Avenue project is complete, there will be a bike path connecting all the houses in the subdivisions along Maple to the path on Kauffman. Harris presented these projects, and others, at the Fairborn City Council work session last week.
Crews are currently working on adding a 10-foot-wide bike path and water line on Maple Avenue from Dayton Drive to Doris.
“We hope to get residents up and out there on the bike path. They’ll be able to enjoy it because it will be connected and safe,” Harris said.
Residents will be able to get out on at least part of the bike path in about a year.
The project will also narrow the street to one lane of traffic each way and add a turn lane in the middle. The city is narrowing the street in an effort to curb speeding on Maple Avenue, something Harris said residents were concerned about.
Along with replacing the road, the city will replace the water lines underneath Maple Avenue. The water lines under the second phase of the project, from Doris to Five Points, will be widened in the project. “Five Points” is the intersection of Maple, East Dayton-Yellow Springs Road and East Funderburg Road.
During construction, drivers have been detoured onto Central and then Kauffman Avenue. A similar detour will be implemented during the second phase of the project in 2021. Harris said crews will work to keep at least one lane of traffic open to drivers during the entire project.
Phase II of the Maple Avenue project will start next August and last about a year, Harris said.
On Col. Glenn, the city will be installing a 10-foot-wide path on the south side of the road. This bike path will tie into an existing path on Wright State University’s campus. On the other side of the road, crews will install a sidewalk from University Boulevard to Old Yellow Springs Road.
“The biggest thing is that we’re linking the sidewalks and stuff around town,” Harris said. “This is a huge step in giving people a safe place to walk.”
Harris said there is mostly grass along the road now, so it will be much more safe and much more walkable after the project. It will also be safer for people riding the bus.
The city will undertake both Phase I and Phase II of the Col. Glenn project at the same time. The projects will cost $1.1 million and $1.165 million. Construction on Col. Glenn will likely begin in June 2021, Harris said, and wrap up in about a year.
There will also be a mid-block crossing in between University Boulevard and Center Park Boulevard, with a pedestrian push button and benches on the sides.
About the Author
