Those who regularly drive on Boerger Road might soon have a safer commute.
At a Thursday night’s meeting, Marysville City officials told finance committee members about a project to lower the nearby hill under Route 38 to improve visibility.
The project was partially spurred by traffic concerns surrounding the new Ewing Meadows development on the corner of Boerger Road and Route 38. The meeting was originally called to discuss hastening the city’s project to lower Route 736 to make it perpendicular with Route 38.
Instead, officials have decided to tackle the problem a different way.
Marysville Public Service Director Mike Andrako said the hill has been an issue for some time, preventing motorists from being able to see left when coming out of Boerger Road. He said it’s not an issue as long as drivers are obeying the speed limit on Route 38, but they often don’t.
“(Route 38) is a concern of ours, and has been a concern,” he said.
The city also wants to get the project done before the Ohio Department of Transportation’s repaving of Route 38 later this year. Andrako said he’d rather not have to tear up a road that was just paved.
As for waiting on the Route 736 project, Andrako said it’s not quite as much of a problem as some may have expressed.
“Even though it’s a skew, you can see pretty far in all the directions,” he said. “You have to turn over your shoulder a little bit to see, but you can still see.”
Andrako told the committee he’d rather wait until the city can use Ohio Public Works Commission funds to work on Route 736.
“That would push it out to 2020 till when we can actually do that project,” he said.
The shift in focus wouldn’t affect the Ewing Meadows development being considered by council.
Officials said they believe Route 38 can be handled early this year as part of the city’s annual paving program.
Committee Chair Henk Berbee asked Andrako how much the road would be lowered. Andrako said the depth of the gas line under the road limits how far the city can go. City Engineer Jeremy Hoyt said the current line is about six or six-and-a-half feet deep. Since the city must keep a buffer of at least four feet, the project would likely end up shaving two to two-and-a-half feet off the top.
“We’ll lower it the maximum amount possible,” Andrako said. “We feel like that will give you a visual of the car approaching before it gets so close to you that you can’t make a decision.”
Hoyt said his department has done preliminary analyses to see whether the proposed amount would be enough to improve visibility, and concluded it would be.
“It’s not just a wild guess,” he said.
According to Andrako, ODOT has its repaving project going anywhere from April 15 to Oct. 15. He said the city bids out its paving program to contractors in February and can have whatever company get the contract to lower the road early in the year.
“We can make it one of the first things the contractor has to do,” Andrako said.