Riverside advances Woodman Gateway feasibility study after new crash data shows four recent fatalities

Consultants from Wolpert briefed the Riverside City Council on Monday on the Woodman Gateway project, an outgrowth of the city's SS4A safety action plan, and outlined a feasibility study intended to refine concept alternatives and set a path toward construction.

Nate Fisher of Wolpert told the council that the SS4A work began after the city's award in late 2023 and that public outreach and crash-mapping identified hot spots along Woodman between US 35 and Springfield Street. Fisher said the corridor's heat map and speed analysis showed sections with higher crash concentrations and higher speeds, and that the study is re-evaluating earlier concepts in light of updated traffic counts linked to a return-to-work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Fisher said, "in the last 3 years, there have been four fatal crashes within this road segment," and called that trend "a clear highlight of the need for something to be done in this section to improve it and try to curb those fatalities." He described design alternatives under study, including roundabouts, signals, access management in commercial areas, and potential reconnection of Old Harshman to Woodman to improve neighborhood and school access while avoiding federal property.

The feasibility study is funded through a congressional earmark that flows through the Ohio Department of Transportation, Fisher said. He described key evaluation factors ' project cost, right-of-way impacts, environmental review and safety benefits ' that will be used to compare alternatives, and offered a conservative implementation timeline that assumes engineering, right-of-way acquisition and permitting could push a first construction bid toward about 2030 for some segments.

Councilors asked about near-term outreach and timing; Fisher said new concepts could be presented to the public in late 2026 and that an "engineering gut feel" on which concepts remain feasible should be available in coming months. He stressed that roundabouts are being evaluated as alternatives, not firm decisions, and that intersection geometry at places such as Airway may preclude some options.

Next steps include ODOT review of the feasibility study, further public involvement, selection of a preferred alternative, and development of a phasing and funding strategy. The council did not take formal action on the study at Monday's meeting.

The presentation and timetable underscore the project's multi-year nature and the city's reliance on state and federal partners for approvals and funding.