South Hamilton Crossing
South Hamilton Crossing
This project in the City of Hamilton (City) had been considered at various times in history since the beginning of the 19th century. The City approached the project with renewed interest and in 2005 retained a consultant to begin the formal Project Development Process. The Butler County Transportation Improvement District (TID) entered into an agreement in 2010 to partner with the City of Hamilton and assumed the consultant contract. With the added cooperation of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Ohio-Indiana-Kentucky Regional Council of Governments (OKI), the SHX began to move forward.
With only one grade separation railroad crossing in the City, the SHX overpass project became a critical project for the City. The project was listed on the long- range plan for OKI, which made the project eligible for state and federal grant dollars. The TID was successful in obtaining two Ohio Jobs and Commerce (OJC) grant awards to help offset the engineering costs.
Partnering with the City, the TID was able to secure CMAQ grant funds through OKI in 2014 and a third OJC grant to help pay for right-of-way acquisition costs. The City’s local pledge of $1.6 million was essential in securing the grant funds.
The TID then secured right-of-way management services to begin the federal process to acquire the necessary right-of-way for the project. The project had close to one hundred parcels that the TID needed to secure access.
The TID was able to secure additional grant funding through ODOT’s Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) of $10 million and $3.5 million through the OKI STP program to help fund the construction related costs. The City had provided a resolution of support to contribute the remaining local dollars on the project.
The construction project started in the spring of 2016 with a ground breaking ceremony held at Miami University Hamilton, who has a direct connection now to State Route 4 because of the project.
In December 2018, the TID along with the City, ODOT, OKI and State of Ohio officials held a road opening ceremony on the overpass with the first vehicles passing over the bridge less than one hour later.
