Council moves Hill Road maintenance agreement to full Council after discussion of costs, design and funding options

Canal Winchester City Council on June 15 moved to send a resolution to full Council that would authorize the mayor to enter into a roadway maintenance agreement with the Fairfield County commissioners and county engineer to assume maintenance of a 2,100-foot portion of Hill Road.

City staff, led by Lucas Haire, told council the change would resolve jurisdictional inconsistencies that have complicated development along the Hill Road corridor. Haire said the city has annexed property adjacent to the road but not to the centerline, leaving that stretch under county jurisdiction. That has led to mixed design standards, different speed limits and permitting challenges for developers who must provide turn lanes tied to local projects.

Haire outlined a plan to pair developer fees-in-lieu with an application to the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) to fund a larger corridor improvement. Staff presented three funding/scope options: an Option One estimate in the $5.5 million–$6.5 million range, an Option Two estimate near $4 million with an expected Canal Winchester out-of-pocket share of roughly $400,000 (about 10 percent), and an Option Three of about $3.5 million that would omit curb and gutter and use a more rural section design. Haire said the city would scale the project if OPWC funding is not secured.

Peoples said the preliminary OPWC scoring for the project “scores very well,” and staff expect to pursue the grant application. Council members asked about right-of-way needs, sidewalks and pedestrian paths; Haire said an eight-foot pedestrian path is planned along the west side of the corridor and additional right-of-way may be required from four single-family parcels to accommodate it.

Council also reviewed a traffic analysis: Haire cited an 85th-percentile speed study showing speeds around 43–44 mph in the section that defaults to a 55-mph county speed limit between city 35-mph zones, complicating turn-lane and design requirements.

On a motion by Detwiler, seconded by Bennett, council voted 6–0 to move RES-26-028 to full Council for final consideration. No final funding commitment or construction schedule was approved at the work session; staff said further engineering and preliminary cost estimating are underway and that project scope will depend on grant results and required right-of-way acquisitions.

Next steps: staff will complete preliminary engineering work with EMH&T, refine cost estimates and prepare an OPWC application; the proposal will return to full Council for formal approval and any budget commitments.