Greenroads Certified Bronze

BUT-SR4-3.00 Route 4/Holden Boulevard/South Gilmore Road

 

Summary

Owner: City of Fairfield, Ohio Department of Transportation

Engineer's Estimate: $1.7 million

Lowest Bidder: $2.1 million

Funders/Stakeholders: City of Fairfield, ODOT Central Office Safety Program

Lead Design: LJB Inc. 

Contractor: John R. Jurgensen

Functional Class: Arterial/Highway

Length: 0.4 miles (1.6 lane-miles)

Greenroads Version: v2

Description

BUT-SR4-3.00 Route 4/Holden Boulevard/South Gilmore Road Improvements Project served to upgrade a critical arterial in Fairfield Ohio, as well as providing needed capacity and safety improvements to its intersection with State Route 4. The project involved widening and realignment of Gilmore Road and Holden Boulevard to four lanes, as well as adding left turn lanes. The SR-4 intersection, previously one of the city’s most dangerous, was widened to accommodate additional turn lanes and provided with improved signaling and signage. The pedestrian environment was also significantly enhanced through the addition of new and widened sidewalks. This is the first project Certified in the state of Ohio, as well as the first project Certified under Version 2 of the Greenroads Rating System.

Features

Sustainability features of the project focused on significant pedestrian improvements, increased safety, and responsible construction and material practices. Project highlights included:

  • Expected reduction of 11 fatality injury accidents and 28 property damage accidents over 3 years
  • No reported injuries in construction staff of 178 workers
  • No reported environmental fines or violations
  • Over 1100 feet of new sidewalk length to create continous pedestrian access along the corridor
  • Project completed 5% ahead of schedule and 10% under bid 
  • 30% recycled material used in pavement and base layers
  • Reuse of 70% of existing pavement structure 
  • 73% of construction workforce located within 50 miles of the project, employee wages were gender neutral
  • Lighting fixtures approved by the International Dark Sky Association to reduce light pollution
  • Seed mix using adapted plant species to eliminate need for irrigation

 

Lessons

  • This project started relatively late in the design process (near 90%) and reported some trouble in collecting or backtracking to find some of the information to satisfy Project Requirements at that stage. It took slightly more effort in that respect, but was definitely doable.
  • It was the first project in Ohio. It was also the first intersection improvements project to pursue Certification. Despite being first, the team did not elect to pursue a Pilot Project, they just went for it, with a great attitude. The owner and the design team did spend time in a locally hosted Greenroads bootcamp prior to opting into the program.
  • All parties: owner, designer, contractor earned STP credentials and smoothed out the process substantially. Some of the first construction contractors with STPs are now located in Ohio.
  • The owner's project manager at the City of Fairfield was the primary administrator and main point of contact. This is common, but not required, for small projects under $3 million USD. This project was supported by federal and state dollars as well as local funds.
  • The design team had an on-call agreement to provide certification support. This is common for small projects under $3 million USD. The design team helped perform an analysis to determine a strategy to pursue reasonable credits and consider associated costs with the expected scope of work.
  • The instructions to bidders for the construction contract included information about Greenroads and the stated desire of the Owner to achieve Certification with the expectation that the contractor would participate. Several items relevant to Greenroads were incorporated into the bid specifically to make sure they were achieved.

17_04-17 Press Release SR 4 Holden Blvd (199 kb)

Finished SR4-Gilmore Intersection

Roadway Widening

Utility Work