Deerfield Township trustee Dan Corey. (Photo by Tony Tribble)
Paul McKibben reports:
Dan Corey is at the center of the some of the most important road projects that will affect Warren County and the region for decades. Corey, 41, is a project coordinator in the Warren County Engineer’s Office and a Deerfield Township trustee.
He is working on improvements to the heavily traveled Interstate 71 interchange at Mason-Montgomery and Fields Ertel roads in southern Warren County and northern Hamilton County. He’s also involved with road improvements for the Warrren County racino that will be built near I-75 and Monroe.
He grew up in Terre Haute, Ind., and earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute. He has lived in the Cincinnati area since 1993.Corey is one of three Warren County township trustees in the engineer’s office. The others are Hamilton Township Trustee Kurt Weber (chief deputy engineer) and Massie Township Trustee Mark Dawson (project inspector).
A Republican, Corey was elected in 2005 and re-elected four years later. He is a member of the Warren County Republican Party’s central committee. Corey is married with two sons.
QUESTION: What can motorists expect to see from tangible traffic relief at Fields Ertel/Mason-Montgomery?
ANSWER: This last summer they started seeing two projects completed. Added was a northbound lane on Mason-Montgomery Road and 22 traffic signals that are now coordinated together. The next projects (an expansion of the northbound I-71 exit lane and constructing a loop ramp) will be built starting in ’13 and ’14, respectively. A project involving improving Fields Ertel Road and Gregory Street will be built in ’15. This loop ramp is what everybody’s excited about; it will start in ’14. That’s the project that takes 35 percent of the a.m. peak and 55 percent of the p.m. peak traffic at Fields Ertel and Mason-Montgomery and literally leapfrogs that intersection to put motorists on northbound Mason-Montgomery Road.
Q: What’s the most challenging aspect of Fields Ertel/Mason-Montgomery?
A: The problem moves on different days and on different directional issues. So the Saturday afternoon problem is not the Monday morning problem. There’s not one silver bullet. There’s not one fix. Each fix comes with its own hurdles to jump as you’re trying to fix it. The second most challenging issue is the diversity of jurisdictions. (The state, the federal government, Warren County, Hamilton County, Deerfield Township and Symmes Township are all stakeholders.)
Q: What measures are being taken to prevent traffic congestion when the racino opens?
A: The first component is what the traffic impact study required the racino to improve and those improvements are going to occur on Ohio 63. The second is the county’s desired improvements for safety and congestion on Union Road.
Q: What’s the next hot growth spot in Warren County?
A: If you look at the long range 2040 plan with the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Governments, I-75 has a lot of spots that are going to need improvements. The I-71 corridor will be driven more by economic development growth. The potential growth is up the I-71 corridor. There will still be growth on I-75.
Q: How does your background in civil engineering help you as an elected official?
A: All townships offer roadways and cemeteries. Roadways are a lot of civil engineering and cemeteries are, too, in the sense that they divide properties and they sell off the lots. That’s basically a subdivision with a roadway network through it.
Posted in: Deerfield Twp., News, Traffic, Warren County |
