Southeast Messenger - June 16th, 2019
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www.columbusmessenger.com<br />
Another solution proposed for Toy Road<br />
By Rick Palsgrove<br />
<strong>Southeast</strong> Editor<br />
Another plan is underway to improve<br />
road conditions and traffic congestion on Toy<br />
Road, Swisher Road, and Saltzgaber Road.<br />
“We’re proposing roadway and drainage<br />
maintenance improvements,” said Fritz<br />
Crosier, chief deputy of engineering for<br />
Franklin County Engineer Cornell<br />
Robertson.<br />
Representatives from the Franklin<br />
County Engineer’s Office, the city of<br />
Groveport, and Madison Township met<br />
with area residents on <strong>June</strong> 4 to discuss<br />
the plan.<br />
Residents living on Toy Road,<br />
Saltzgaber Road, and Swisher Road have<br />
been frustrated for several years by the<br />
poor conditions of these roads as well as the<br />
heavy traffic from nearby commercial warehouses<br />
that use these narrow, formerly<br />
rural roads. The residents are seeking relief<br />
from the vehicle and semi-truck traffic they<br />
say damages the roads, tears up yards,<br />
knocks over mailboxes (one resident said he<br />
has replaced his mailbox 11 times due to it<br />
being damaged by traffic), causes noise,<br />
generates trash, and creates congestion.<br />
The three roads have the added problem<br />
of falling within several different government<br />
jurisdictions including Madison<br />
Township, the towns of Groveport and<br />
Obetz, and Franklin County. The three<br />
roads total 2 miles with 1.5 miles in<br />
Madison Township and a half mile in<br />
Groveport.<br />
“All three roads are in poor condition,”<br />
said Crosier.<br />
Crosier said the plan is to resurface all<br />
three roads, improve drainage, consider<br />
installing speed humps in places to slow<br />
down traffic, and construct back-to-back<br />
cul-de-sac bulbs on Toy Road just east of<br />
Centerpoint Parkway.<br />
The cul-de-sacs will close Toy Road,<br />
except for emergency vehicles. The closure<br />
is not permanent and the county is not<br />
vacating that portion of the road that will<br />
be closed. Crosier said the closure will<br />
allow the county to see how it impacts the<br />
surrounding area.<br />
“The cul-de-sac bulbs will keep truck traffic<br />
to the west and residential traffic to the<br />
east,” said Crosier. “It separates commercial<br />
Toy Road from residential Toy Road.”<br />
Additionally, Crosier said the speed<br />
limit on Swisher Road was reduced from 45<br />
mph to 40 mph in April. Toy Road and<br />
Saltzgaber Road have a 35 mph speed<br />
limit. Crosier said the county could have an<br />
opportunity to go back and “take another<br />
look” at the Swisher Road speed limit in<br />
the future.<br />
Crosier said the county is designing the<br />
plan, developing cost estimates, seeing how<br />
utilities and property owners would be<br />
impacted, and seeking funding sources.<br />
The plan will need the approval of the<br />
Franklin County Commissioners and resolutions<br />
of support from Groveport, Madison<br />
Township, and Obetz. Funding sources<br />
could include the Ohio Public Works<br />
Commission and local funds.<br />
“We’re not waiting on developers for<br />
funding any more,” said Crosier. “We will<br />
also need an intergovernmental agreement<br />
(between the county, city of Groveport, and<br />
Madison Township) to determine who pays<br />
for what.”<br />
Crosier said he anticipates construction<br />
on the project would begin in 2020.<br />
Previous plan scrapped<br />
Last summer a $2.8 million proposal<br />
was made to reconstruct about a half mile<br />
of Toy Road that is located in the city of<br />
Groveport from Centerpoint Parkway to<br />
Swisher Road. The plan included a cul-desac<br />
on Toy Road west of Swisher Road.<br />
The city of Groveport had applied for, and<br />
received, approval for an Ohio Public Works<br />
Commission grant of $1.1 million plus a<br />
$433,254 loan to help fund the city’s portion<br />
of the project’s cost. The county was set to<br />
contribute $218,757 of in-kind monies. A<br />
prospective developer had proposed to kick<br />
in $1 million towards the project.<br />
However, according to Groveport City<br />
Engineer Steve Farst, the developer had a<br />
condition that it had to be successful in<br />
acquiring real estate in the area before it<br />
would provide its share of the funding.<br />
“The developer could not obtain the purchase<br />
agreements, realized it could not<br />
make it happen, and withdrew their $1<br />
million,” said Farst. “The city could not<br />
make up the difference. We were disappointed.”<br />
In April, Groveport officials notified the<br />
OPWC the city could not proceed with the<br />
project without a private financial partner<br />
and so had to decline the OPWC funding.<br />
<strong>June</strong> 16, <strong>2019</strong> - SOUTHEAST MESSENGER - PAGE 3<br />
Groveport Garden Club<br />
The Groveport Garden Club meets the<br />
first Tuesday each month at Groveport<br />
Zion Lutheran Church, 6014 Groveport<br />
Road. Call Marylee Bendig at (614) 218-<br />
1097.<br />
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Yappy Hour<br />
<strong>Messenger</strong> photo by Theresa Garee<br />
Reiko chased after a ball thrown into the dog pond during the Yappy Hour event at<br />
the Walnut Woods Metro Park dog park on <strong>June</strong> 6. Friends of the Metro Parks hosted<br />
the event as a fundraiser.