THE PLAINS, Ohio — More changes are coming to traffic patterns in The Plains.
The Ohio Department of Transportation wants to build roundabouts at the intersection of U.S. Route 33 and State Route 682 — replacing a traffic light on the westbound ramp and a stop sign on the eastbound ramp. The change will accommodate increased traffic from the planned closure of the nearest exit along 33 westbound, a cutoff to Chauncey.
ODOT is taking public comments on the changes, including at a public meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 11, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the main building of The Plains Community Park at 65 Connett Road.
ODOT says the planned construction, which will take place from 2024-2025, will address congestion and safety concerns at the interchange. Drivers on the U.S. 33 eastbound exit ramp currently have limited ability to see traffic on SR 682, according to an ODOT press release.
“This is part of our efforts to improve safety along U.S. 33 in Athens County,” said Alan Craig, a planning engineer for ODOT District 10, composed of nine southeast Ohio counties, including Athens.
ODOT recorded nine crashes at the interchange from 2017-2022, according to records obtained by the Independent. Four resulted in non-fatal injuries.
In general, ODOT considers roundabouts safer than other types of intersections when the different roads in an intersection are at the same elevation. According to ODOT, roundabouts typically reduce crashes resulting in injury by 76% and the total number of crashes by 35%.
Athens County Engineer Jeff Maiden said he supports the installation of the two roundabouts at the interchange in The Plains, and said he recommended that change to ODOT three years ago.
“Roundabouts on each side of that bridge is really the only appropriate way … to handle the traffic there,” Maiden said.
The change will accommodate increased traffic resulting from ODOT’s permanent closure of the nearby U.S. 33 exit to State Route 13 via SR 682, just north of The Plains. The closure of the Chauncey cutoff won’t take place until 2025, after construction on the interchange in The Plains is complete, said Craig.
Athens County Commissioner Chris Chmiel said he is “a fan of roundabouts.” He added that ODOT is “doing their best,” though he also voiced concern about inconvenience for Chauncey residents and Baileys Trail System visitors as a result of the Chauncey cut-off closure.
Likewise, State Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) said that while he “feels for people” inconvenienced by the change, “obviously public safety trumps everything else … If someone’s got to travel a couple more minutes or a couple more miles in the name of public safety, I think that’s a pretty good compromise.”
ODOT previously tried to address safety at the Chauncey cutoff by prohibiting left turns from the cut through, though Craig said, “There are still people making that maneuver.”
Two crashes occurred at the intersection from 2017-2022, one of which was fatal.
ODOT previously closed another nearby exit, at Johnson Road and US 33, in August 2021. That closure increased traffic through The Plains, Craig said, although ODOT said at the time that the closure was not forecast to substantially increase traffic.
According to Craig, morning peak hour traffic doubled on the U.S. 33 westbound exit ramp and afternoon peak hour traffic doubled on the eastbound entrance ramp. However, there was no appreciable change in traffic on other legs of the intersection, and overall congestion was actually reduced after ODOT optimized traffic signal timing.
Regardless, the closure of an additional nearby exit will add to congestion, according to ODOT records.
The agency ranks traffic congestion with grades from A, least congested, to F, most congested.
If the Chauncey cut off were closed without changes to the interchange, the worst traffic in the interchange would occur on the U.S. 33 eastbound exit ramp. ODOT projects that closing the Chauncey cutoff would more than double peak congestion in the morning (7:15-8:15 a.m.) and evening (4-5 p.m.), changing the congestion ratings from D and C grades to F and E respectively.
Traffic would worsen in other parts of the interchange, too.
The U.S. 33 westbound exit ramp and SR 682 northbound both currently experience C-grade congestion during peak hours. ODOT projects that closing the Chauncey cutoff would result in D-grade congestion during the morning traffic hour on both the exit ramp and 682 northbound.
The roundabouts should alleviate the problem, ODOT says.
Throughout construction of the roundabouts, access to and from US 33 and The Plains will be maintained, according to ODOT’s press release. However, SR 682 east of the interchange may require a temporary detour.
Nearby Whispering Pines Drive and Sunset Lane will be included in the department’s plans for the interchange to maintain eastern and western access to 682 from the roadways, said the release.
The construction of the two roundabouts will represent the first significant upgrades to the intersection beyond the addition of a traffic signal in 1999, according to the release. The interchange was built in 1958, the first interchange ever constructed in ODOT District 10.
ODOT will also accept comments following the hearing, until Nov. 11. Comments can be left on the project webpage, or submitted to Craig by email at Alan.Craig@dot.ohio.gov, phone at (740) 568-3954, or mail at 338 Muskingum Drive, Marietta, OH 45750.
“We’ll accept all those comments, evaluate them, see if there’s something that we haven’t thought about and make a decision of whether or not the proposed solution is the way to go forward with it,” Craig said.
Corinne Colbert contributed to this story.
