Miami County Eldean Road Projects Win Ohio Conaway Award
As a bonus during my presentation at the Miami Co. Engineer’s dinner, we learned the Eldean Road project won ODOT’s Conaway Partnering Award. The Eldean Road project is quite unique because of the occasional truck or farm equipment hitting the railroad bridge due to low clearance over the roadway. The proposed project was needed to both raise the railroad bridge and lower Eldean Road so that 14 feet of clearance could be achieved. On top of this, some additional funding was needed to address environmental issues. The Miami Co. Engineer requested an increase of $1.6M due to environmental needs. The MVRPC Board of Directors approved the additional funding for the project while maintaining the original local match percentage with Miami County.

Additionally, Miami County had arranged funding for the nearby section of Eldean Road through CEAO (County Engineers Association of Ohio) but, the construction years of the two projects did not align, which could have negatively impacted motorists over 2 construction seasons on nearly the same roadway.  MVRPC was able to loan CEAO the $4M with repayment the following fiscal year so that the projects would occur at the same time. Of course, Miami County had to rush completion of the plans for this section. CEAO reimbursed MVRPC at the beginning of SFY 2016.

  Pictured from left to right: Josh Bowman (ODOT 7), Matt Parrill (ODOT 7), Paul Huelskamp (Miami Co. Engineer), Brian O. Martin (MVRPC)
 

The Miami County case is an outstanding example of the innovation and flexibility required in today’s limited funding environment. It takes cooperative and invested funding partners to complete projects because of the numerous project commitments, backlog, and limited funding compared to needs. Congratulations to Miami County, ODOT and MVRPC on completing a quality construction project.

Ohio Leads the Nation in Increase in Pedestrian Fatalities
Ohio is leading the nation in the increase in pedestrian fatalities with a 26.5 percent increase in 2015 over 2014. Ohio’s 2014 monthly totals were higher in eight of 12 calendar months. For 2015, January and February were considerably higher in pedestrian fatalities by 12 deaths in January and 8 deaths in February, respectively, over year 2014. August, October, and December also had significant increases. The Dayton Daily News and WHIO Channel 7 have been covering the story this month in light of several crashes in the area involving pedestrians. Unfortunately, pedestrian crashes in 2016 are off to a fast start.

MVRPC reminds all motorists, cyclists, and walkers to please do your part to ensure that we arrive at our destinations safely by doing the following:

• Walkers - wear light-colored or reflective clothing at night and early in the morning. 75% of crashes involving pedestrians take place at low-light times of day.
• Walkers - use sidewalks and crosswalks whenever available.
• Walkers - if you must walk in the street, stay on the left, facing traffic so that you can see oncoming vehicles.  
• Walk defensively – pay attention and look out for distracted drivers, even at crosswalks.
• Motorists - always yield to pedestrians.
• Motorists - keep your eyes on the road and obey all traffic laws including speed limits and red lights.
• Motorists - be particularly careful around buses, and look out for disembarking passengers.
• Motorists - always allow at least three feet when passing a cyclist.
• Motorists - if you can’t pass a cyclist safely, wait until you can.
• Motorists - merge carefully when turning right across a bike lane.

Grants & Funding Resources
On a monthly basis, MVRPC is highlighting several funding opportunities on our website that could benefit communities in the Region. We include a description, contact information and program links. We have also listed other valuable resources for finding funding opportunities.

See more at: http://www.mvrpc.org/our-vision/planning-services/grant-and-funding-opportunites

This month we are featuring information on:

• Ohio Development Services Agency’s Local Government Efficiency Program (LGEP); Deadline - May 15, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.
• Ohio Development Services Agency’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Community Development Program; Deadline - Friday, June 17, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
   

Upcoming MVRPC Meetings:
04/21/16   9:30 a.m.  Technical Advisory Committee - 10 N. Ludlow St., Suite 700, Dayton, OH
04/28/16   9:30 a.m.  MVRPC Regional Bikeway Committee – 10 N. Ludlow St., Suite 700, Dayton, OH
05/05/16   8:30 a.m. Executive Committee | 9:00 a.m. Board of Directors – 1515 S. Main St, Dayton, OH

April 2016 Executive Director's Update PDF available for download