MasonBuzz.com

A proposed upgrade to the Fields Ertel/Mason-Montgomery interchange off Interstate 71 could reduce traffic there by as much as 55 percent, according to Warren County transportation officials.

More than two dozen residents crowded Deerfield Township’s trustees room Thursday to hear representatives of the Warren County Transportation District discuss upgrades to the traffic-clogged interchange near the border of southern Warren and northern Hamilton counties.

About 80,000 vehicles travel through the intersection each day, resulting in delays and backups that have long been a source of frustration for residents and commuters.

The area is a key economic engine for Warren County. Within miles of the interchange are, among others: Procter & Gamble’s Mason Business Center, Deerfield Towne Center shopping center, Kings Automall and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Mason campus.

“Statewide, this was the highest-ranked project in Ohio,” said Joseph Vogel, a planning and engineering administrator with the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 08 in Lebanon.

Warren County Engineer Neil Tunison says the county is making phased improvements to the area.

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Posted in: Deerfield Twp., News, Traffic |

Tags: Tags: additional lane, commute, construction, deerfield township, exit, fields ertel, i-71, improvement, joseph vogel, loop ramp, mason, meeting, neil tunison, public, symmes township, traffic, warren county

Motorists will have the chance to find out about current and proposed improvements to the Fields Ertel exit off Interstate 71 on Thursday, Feb. 28.

The community is invited to stop in anytime between 5-7 p.m. at the Deerfield Township Trustees room at 4900 Parkway Drive, ste. 180, Deerfield Township.  A brief presentation and question-and-answer session will be held at 6:30 p.m.

The traffic-clogged interchange at Fields Ertel and Mason-Montgomery roads near the border of southern Warren and northern Hamilton counties has long been a source of frustration for residents and commuters.

Funding for current and scheduled improvements has been secured and motorists have already begun to see changes in the area, including the addition of a new northbound traffic lane and improvements in traffic signal timing, say officials.

Work has already begun in the area and will continue over the next several years

“We are making phased improvements that will gradually and successfully address traffic issues in the Fields Ertel area,” said Neil Tunison, Warren County engineer.

Upcoming improvements to be detailed at the meeting include:

• Loop Ramp construction that will allow northbound traffic on I-71 to by-pass the Fields Ertel/Mason-Montgomery intersection and exit I-71 further north of the existing interchange
• A lane expansion at the northbound I-71 exit that will expand the exit lane and create more separation between freeway and exiting traffic
• An additional right turn lane onto Mason-Montgomery Road from the southbound I-71 exit
• Access Management improvements at Fields Ertel and Gregory Road

The interchange was constructed in the 1960s when the area was rural. Today it’s jammed with commerce – and traffic.

By 2015, officials estimate 66,650 vehicles will travel through the intersection of Mason-Montgomery and Fields Ertel roads in one day. By 2035, that jumps by 40 percent to 93,620 vehicles a day.

The area is a key economic engine for Warren County. Within miles of the interchange is Procter & Gamble’s Mason Business Center, the Deerfield Towne Center shopping center, Kings Automall and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Mason campus, among others.

Staff reporter Paul McKibben contributed

Posted in: Events |

Tags: Tags: commute, deerfield township, fields ertel, i-71, improvement, mason, meeting, neil tunison, public, symmes township, traffic, warren county

Dragonfly Foundation co-founders Ria Davidson, right, and Christine Neitzke in their new space in Symmes Township.  (Photo by Tony Tribble)

Smiles and laughter are in short supply in pediatric oncology units.

But at The Landing – the new home of the Dragonfly Foundation – giggles and good feelings abound.

The Mason-based nonprofit organization, which provides comfort and care to children and young adults with cancer and blood diseases, recently celebrated a move into new and expanded office space at 9275 Governor’s Way in nearby Symmes Township.

The new 6,000-square-foot-space – formerly Keep it Tight Fitness – is a step up from the organization’s 1,200-square-foot office in the Voice of America Shopping Centre in West Chester.

The expansion allows the organization to offer a lounge room for teens and young adults, a stage for music and entertainment events, conference and library areas, increased storage for care-package items and a gathering place for patients and their families.

• Photos: The Landing
• Meet the Dragonfly girls

The lease was made possible, thanks to a donation by Mark and Melissa Matson of Mason. Mark Matson is the CEO of Matson Money, a financial investment and advisory firm. Organizers furnished the space, which already featured upscale finishes like marble counter tops and hand-blown glass bowls, with donations.

“People are going to flip,” said organization co-founder Ria Davidson. “Everything is high-end. No words can describe the space, but spectacular comes pretty darn close.”

Davidson and Christine Neitzke, both Mason residents and public relations professionals, founded the organization two years ago after Nietzke’s son Matt was diagnosed with cancer. Matt, now 13, is in remission, but the goal of bringing comfort and joy to children “living with and perhaps dying of cancer” continues.

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Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: cancer, children, christine neitzke, cincinnati children's hospital medical center, i'm still me, mark matson, marty brennaman, mason, matson money, office, reds, ria davidson, symmes township, the dragonfly foundation, the landing

The Mason Community Center is offering special deals for members of the now-closed Mason Urban Active fitness club.

Urban Active closed its Mason location last Friday following a buyout of the Kentucky-based chain by LA Fitness.

The closure came on the same day LA Fitness announced it had completed an agreement to purchase “substantially all of the assets relating to Urban Active’s clubs in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.”

LA Fitness will honor all of Urban Active’s current membership and personal training agreements, officials said.

The 27,000-square-foot Mason club is the only location to close. Members of that club are being referred to a 50,000-square-foot LA Fitness Club at 11359 Montgomery Road, Symmes Township.

Urban Active had 36 locations, including 19 in Ohio and six in the Cincinnati area. Founded in 2007 in Lexington, Ky., the chain had an estimated $107.5 million in revenue in 2011, according to trade publication Club Industry.

Through Dec. 15, Urban Active club members can receive a free week of premier membership at the Mason Community Center when they show their club fitness cards.

Urban Active members who join the community center by Dec. 15 will receive their first month of membership free (administrative fee applies).

The Mason Community Center offers two pools, a spa, fitness center, personal training packages, track, gymnasium and field house with basketball courts, climbing wall, child care, cafe and programs for people of all ages.

The center is at 6050 Mason-Montgomery Road and can be reached at 513-229-8555.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: business, closed, la fitness, mason, mason community center, symmes township, urban active

Motorists frustrated with delays at the Fields-Ertel Road exit off Interstate 71 will have the chance to find out about current and proposed improvements at a community information meeting Thursday.

The community is invited to stop in any time between 5-8 p.m. at Deerfield Crossing Tower, 5181 Natorp Blvd., Deerfield Township. A brief presentation and question-and-answer session will be held at 7 p.m.

The traffic-clogged interchange at Fields Ertel and Mason-Montgomery roads near the border of southern Warren and northern Hamilton counties has long been a source of frustration for residents and commuters.

Funding for current and scheduled improvements has been secured and motorists have already begun to see changes in the area, including the addition of a new northbound traffic lane and improvements in traffic signal timing, say officials.

Work has already begun in the area and will continue over the next several years

“We are working aggressively to ease congestion, expand access to business and shopping and improve safety for all who travel through the Fields-Ertel/Mason-Montgomery Road area,” said Warren County Engineer Neil Tunison. “We are excited to host this community information meeting so that the public can learn more about the improvements taking place in the area.”

The interchange was constructed in the 1960s when the area was rural. Today it’s jammed with commerce – and traffic.

By 2015, officials estimate 66,650 vehicles will travel through the intersection of Mason-Montgomery and Fields Ertel roads in one day. By 2035, that jumps by 40 percent to 93,620 vehicles a day.

The area is a key economic engine for Warren County. Within miles of the interchange is Procter & Gamble’s Mason Business Center, the Deerfield Towne Center shopping center, Kings Automall and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Mason campus, among others.

“This is the single most important infrastructure improvement we can undertake on behalf of our region,” said Warren County Commissioner Dave Young. “We understand the fierce urgency of now, and we’re fixing the traffic problems and making the drive through Fields-Ertel safer and easier – and we’re doing it now.”

For more information on the meeting or interchange improvement project, call 513-804-8033 or go to www.advancingfieldsertel.com.

Staff reporter Paul McKibben contributed

Posted in: Community, News, Traffic |

Tags: Tags: cincinnati children's hospital medical center mason campus, commute, dave young, deerfield towne center, deerfield township, fields ertel exit, fields ertel road, i-71, interchange improvements project, interstate 71, kings automall, mason, mason-montgomery road, neil tunison, symmes township, traffic, warren county engineer

The Enquirer reports:

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: accident, clayton kuhnell, david taylor, highway, i-71, investigation, james laycock, michael fortine, overturned, pamela kuhnell, symmes township, tractor trailer

Janice Morse reports:

UPDATE, 7:35 p.m.: All lanes of I-71 north reopened as of 7:15 p.m.

The extent of injuries is unknown.

Contrary to other media reports, there were only four vehicles involved.

UPDATE, 6:15 p.m.: The ramps from east and west I-275 to north I-71 are closed.

UPDATE: 5:28 p.m.: No detours have been set up yet, but a dispatcher says the Ohio Department of Transportation is en route to do so.

The Ohio State Highway patrol advises that northbound traffic should try to exit before reaching Interstate 275; a dispatcher says the highway may not be shut down as long as ARTIIMIS was predicting, but she didn’t have a time estimate yet for reopening it.

SYMMES TWP. – All north lanes of Interstate 71 are blocked near Fields Ertel and Mason-Montgomery roads, ARTIMIS reports.

A semi tractor-trailer was reported overturned around 4:30 p.m.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is handling the investigation.

It will take six hours to clear the scene, ARTIMIS estimated. Three vehicles, plus the truck, were involved in that crash, the patrol said, and three people were being transported to hospitals for treatment of injuries.

A second crash was reported about 20 minutes later, also on Interstate 71 north, about three miles away from the first crash scene. It is unclear whether anyone was hurt.

The left shoulder is blocked at Pfeiffer Road because of the second crash, ARTIMIS said.

Two vehicles are involved in that crash.

The Enquirer and MasonBuzz will update this story when more information is available.

Posted in: News, Traffic |

Tags: Tags: commute, crash, fields ertel, i-71, symmes township, traffic, wreck

Kindergartener Kenzie Delanoy and her classmates raise their arms to get into their pretend spacecuits during a presentation by iSPACE at the Primrose School in Symmes Township on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. The kids learned about living and working in outerspace. The Enquirer/Leigh Taylor

Representatives from iSpace, a science-based educational program, visited students at the Primrose School in neighboring Symmes Township this week.  Students learned about living and working in outer space.  The Enquirer’s Leigh Taylor was there to catch the buzz.  Click on each image to see a larger resolution version.

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: ispace, photos, preschool, science, symmes township, the primrose school

Photo: Warren County Jail

A Symmes Township woman has been indicted for robbery and escape on charges stemming from a Dec. 1 incident at the Kroger store in Deerfield Township.

Warren County prosecutors say that Loretta D. Foster, 29, was shoplifting a cart of groceries at the store on Terra Firma Drive off Mason-Montgomery Road when she bit a Kroger loss prevention officer while trying to flee the scene, raising the charge from theft to robbery.

Warren County sheriff’s deputies arrested Foster and detained her in the rear of a police car.  Police say Foster freed herself from the handcuffs and asked for the window to be rolled down, claiming to be ill.  She then escaped from the vehicle.

Foster appeared in Warren County Common Pleas Court Wednesday, where a judge set a bond of $50,000 in cash or bail bond.  She’s scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on Jan. 20.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: deerfield township, deputies, escape, kroger, loretta d. foster, loretta foster, police, robbery, symmes township, warren county sheriff

Students at the Primrose School in neighboring Symmes Twp. raised more than $257 to benefit needy families this Thanksgiving.  The students raised the money doing chores around their homes and then shopped together for food and other items to donate to the Freestore Foodbank donation bin at a nearby Kroger store.  The Enquirer’s Leigh Taylor tagged along and got these shots.  Click on on each image to see a larger-resolution version.

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: donations, food, kroger, needy, preschool, preschoolers, primrose school, symmes township, thanksgiving