Fairborn’s first roundabout: Public meeting will explain changes

The city of Fairborn is planning to install a roundabout at the Kauffman Avenue/Colonel Glenn Highway intersection. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

The city of Fairborn is planning to install a roundabout at the Kauffman Avenue/Colonel Glenn Highway intersection. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

A public meeting will be held to discuss Fairborn’s upcoming roundabout project.

The intersection at Colonel Glenn Highway and Kauffman Avenue will be reconstructed as a roundabout over the next two years. A roundabout is a circular intersection where traffic flows almost continuously in one direction around a central island.

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A meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 18, at the Fairborn Government Center, 44 W. Hebble Road, to discuss the roundabout.

A 2009 study identified the intersection as Fairborn’s fifth most dangerous, with a high number of rear-end and angle crashes. The intersection also has unnecessary delays when opposing traffic is not present, city officials said.

The intersection, which has a 49-year-old traffic signal, ranks third for all city traffic signal maintenance calls, city officials said.

“Roundabouts achieve the rare combination of being safer and more efficient, which is exactly what we want to do for people who use this intersection,” said City Engineer Don O’Connor. “In addition, the intersection will receive new pavement, curbs, street lighting and drainage improvements.”

The project construction cost is estimated at nearly $1.2 million, city officials said.

Federal grant money awarded through the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission will cover up to $336,694 of construction costs, according to the city. The remaining $853,306 will be paid through Fairborn road funds.

Design work for this project is scheduled to be completed in October 2018, according to the city, with a contract awarded in February 2019. Construction should begin in April 2019 and be finished by November 2019, city officials said.

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