overpass structure would span approximately 114 feet above the railroad right-of-way and provide the height clearance (23 feet) required for the trains passing underneath. This proposed alternative would require reconstruction of Hire Road from East Second Street to approximately a quarter of a mile south of the CSX tracks.

NEXT STEPSODOT is asking for your help in selecting the best location for a new railroad overpass in eastern Defiance County. Comments can be made by filling out a comment form today, or submitting a comment form to Kirk Slusher at the address below. All comments received will be reviewed and summarized for inclusion in the environmental document.

Using your input, a preferred alternative will be selected. This recommendation will then be approved for project funding. After funding approval, the project will undergo final engineering, design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction. Based on public comments and information discovered during later engineering phases, changes may be made to the preferred alternative to avoid or minimize impacts to the community’s social, economic, or natural resources.

Defiance Senior High School May 25, 2006

Welcome

Your Comments Are Very Important

Comment forms are available at tonight’s public meeting. Written or e-mailed comments are being accepted until June 9, 2006, and should be submitted to:

Kirk SlusherPlanning Administrator

ODOT District One1885 N. McCullough Street

Lima, Ohio 45801kirk.slusher@dot.state.oh.us

If you have any questions after tonight’s public meeting, please contact Kirk Slusher at(419) 999-6849.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) welcomes you to tonight’s public meeting for the Defiance Railroad Grade Separation Project. The purpose of the meeting is to present to the public new information developed over the past year on two recommended alternatives for a grade separation over the CSX railroad tracks. One alternative is located at Hire Road and the second alternative is located at Florence Avenue, just south of SR 281. The last public meeting was held in September 2004, where several conceptual alternatives were presented to you for consideration.

Since 2004, the alternatives have undergone additional design work, ecological impact analysis, and refined cost estimation. In addition, based on numerous comments received at the previous meeting, a traffic analysis was conducted comparing the impacts of the alternatives on future travel patterns on the local road network. This information is summarized in the table on the inside of this handout.

Comments on the alternatives and their potential impacts are requested from the public to assist in the selection of a preferred alternative and final design of the project.

PROJECT DEVELOPMENTThe purpose of the Defiance Railroad Grade Separation project is to develop an additional grade-separated overpass crossing of the CSX rail line southeast of Defiance, Ohio, between the existing crossings at Summit Street and SR 18.

The project was originally initiated in November 2000 when the County Engineer’s office applied for funding under ODOT’s Grade Separation Program. Multiple locations within the county were submitted

for consideration, including one on Hire Road, and another on SR 15. A decision was made to initiate this project to find an appropriate grade crossing location in southeast Defiance. ODOT’s $200 million Grade Separation Program provides funding for railroad grade separations that will remove traffic conflicts at rail grade crossings resulting from CSX Transportation Inc.’s and Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation’s acquisition of Conrail. The acquisition of Conrail resulted in changes to rail traffic patterns nationwide, reducing the volume of trains on some rail lines while increasing it on others.

A new grade-separated railroad crossing at an additional location over the CSX rail line would improve travel for Defiance residents on both sides of the railroad tracks. It would also promote safety in the study area, while improving access to schools, shopping areas and other community resources.

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENTA public meeting was held in September 2004 to present the conceptual alternatives and obtain concurrence on the recommendation of the Florence Avenue and Hire Road alternatives for further study.

Written comments (including e-mails) were received both during and after the meeting. Most comments expressed a preference of one alternative over another. Only two comments suggested that none of the options should be implemented (one suggesting a new alignment, the other suggesting that CSX move their switching tracks eastward to reduce the lengthy delays at the existing Hire Road crossing).

Comments in favor of the Florence Avenue alternative indicated that the alignment would allow for the possible future construction of a southern bypass around the city. Extending Florence Avenue south would directly connect the Domersville Road exit of US 24 to Dohoney Road.

Comments in favor of the Hire Road alternative cited numerous objections to the impacts of the Florence Avenue location. Most commenters believed that there would be increased traffic on residential roads (specifically Dohoney Road), which would lead to safety problems and a reduction in quality of life for residents. The greater construction cost and loss of farmland compared to the Hire Road alternative were also mentioned as concerns with the Florence Avenue location.

ALTERNATIVES Two overpass locations were recommended for further study after the 2004 public meeting:

Florence Avenue AlternativeFlorence Avenue is a short local road south of East Second Street, directly across from SR 281. It terminates at the CSX rail line. The Florence Avenue alternative proposes constructing an overpass at the rail line in the vicinity of Florence Avenue, and building a new road south of the rail line to align with Dohoney Road at Standley Road.

The overpass structure would span approximately 135 feet above the railroad right-of-way and provide the 23-foot height clearance required for the railroad tracks.

Much of the existing alignment of Florence Avenue will be left as an access road adjacent to the overpass. This access road would be used by existing businesses on the west side of Florence Avenue, and will be accessible only via Spruce Street.

The Florence Avenue Alternative also includes improvements to Dohoney Road, extending approximately 3,400 feet south of Standley Road. These improvements include lane-widening and shoulder improvements, and do not involve additional lanes, but may require new right-of-way. The improvements are being done in response to the traffic analysis, which indicated that approximately 415 additional vehicles per day would use Dohoney Road if the Florence Avenue Alternative was selected.

Hire Road AlternativeHire Road is a rural local road that terminates at East Second Street to the north, near the entrance to the General Motors Powertrain Plant. The Hire Road alternative would replace the existing at-grade crossing of the CSX rail line with an overpass structure. The

Public Involvementcontinued from cover

continued on back page

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FLORENCE AVENUE AND HIRE ROAD ALTERNATIVESThe location of the two alternatives are shown below. Areas in yellow indicate the approximate right-of-way that would be needed for each alternative, while areas in orange indicate local road improvements.

Issue Florence Avenue Alternative Hire Road AlternativeEstimated Cost of Alternatives

Construction $3,062,700 $2,482,100

Right-of-Way $ 159,700 $ 572,200

Dohoney Road Improvements (Standley Road to Ayersville Road)

$ 332,300 none

Estimated Total Cost $3,554,700 $3,054,300

Engineering Issues

Overhead Utilities Impacted Possible impact to power lines Relocation of power lines on east side ofHire Road

Underground Utilities Impacted Relocation of gas line None identified

Property Impacts

Residential Property Impacts 1 acre 2 acres

Commercial Property Impacts 0 acres 0 acres

Agricultural Property Impacts 20 acres 10 acres (5 of these farmed acres are zoned commercial)

Residential Structures Taken none 1

Outbuildings Taken 1 garage (possible take) 1 barn

Cultural Resources

Historical/Archaeological sites 1 site (a farmhouse foundation) potentially impacted

Potential impacts to farm propertiescontaining historical buildings

(no impacts to historical buildings)

Ecological

Streams Impacted A tributary to Preston Run would beimpacted

None

Wetlands Impacted Less than 0.2 acre Less than 0.2 acre

Threatened and Endangered Species No impact to habitat No impact to habitat

Traffic Impacts

1. Temporary closure of Florence Avenue during construction.

2. In 2029 approximately 7,400 trips would be attracted to Florence Avenue daily.

3. Traffic volumes utilizing the SR 15 at-grade crossing would decrease 30 percent (from 13,800 to 9,650 vehicles per day).

3. Traffic on Dohoney Road would increase from the current 450 vehicles per day to 975 vehicles per day.

1. Temporary closure of Hire Road during construction. Traffic detoured to other crossings, including SR 15 and SR 18.

2. The number of trips on Hire Road would grow by approximately 30 percent, an increase of 1,240 vehicles per day.

3. Traffic volumes utilizing the SR 15 at-grade crossing would decrease by 13 percent (from 13,800 vehicles per day to 12,050).

Noise Noise walls would not be feasible for this alternative due to the high cost per benefitted residence.

Noise walls would not be feasible for thisalternative due to the high cost per benefitted residence.

Hazardous Materials Sites None noted, although railroad corridorproperties often contain contaminated soils.

None noted, although railroad corridor properties often contain contaminated soils.

COMPARISON OF THE RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVES