Residents press Beavercreek Council to pause Shaker Town Road widening and side-path plan

Dozens of residents told the Beavercreek City Council on an extended public-comment docket that the proposed Shaker Town Road widening and side-path project (ID 119964) would permanently harm front-yard property, remove mature trees and was justified by flawed data.

Residents led by Heather Harvey said the project’s grading and storm swale work extends onto private land, not merely into the public right-of-way, and asked why local funding figures in project documents appear to have risen (citizens cited $967,500 versus earlier public figures of $750,000 or $800,000). Harvey and other speakers pressed the council to re-run traffic counts, citing inconsistent trail-user comparisons used in regional analyses and saying the engineers’ pedestrian estimates did not reflect local patterns.

Retired Beavercreek police officer John Turner urged council to seek alternatives that would improve safety without the degree of land take proposed — suggesting strategic intersection changes, traffic calming and a reassessment of whether a center turn lane is required. Linda Dunkel, a resident who presented crash data from January 2021 through June 17, 2026, said the stretch had roughly 10 reportable crashes in 5.5 years and no pedestrian crashes, and argued those numbers do not support the third lane or new sidewalks on the corridor.

Speakers also raised tree-loss and property-value concerns. Opposition members estimated tree removals ranging from a low triple-digit figure (125 was cited by the city engineer during meetings) and questioned whether replacement planting would be consistently provided; one resident urged the city to establish an escrow to compensate homeowners for alleged devaluation tied to the project.

City engineers and staff had previously told council that grant conditions and regional program rules constrained design choices; Pamela Ecklund referenced the city’s 2019 Thoroughfare Plan, which designates Shaker Town as a minor arterial and listed a later window (2031–2035) for widening, and said the project’s current timing appears driven by grant availability.

Council members acknowledged receiving extensive public comment and said the remarks would be considered as staff and council discuss next steps. No council vote to advance or cancel the Shaker Town Road improvement was taken during the meeting; related items that were before council that evening included a separate speed-limit ordinance for portions of Shaker Town Road (moved to a second reading) and later administrative reports on parade and parks events.

The council did not set a new vote date for the Shaker Town Road project; residents asked for updated traffic studies, tree replacement commitments, clearer documentation of local match funding and more explicit explanations of right-of-way impacts.