| Why hasn't a direct route north to I-71 been studied? |
 | It has been studied in a preliminary fashion to determine if it meets the Purpose and Need, and it does not. This was done in the 1994 study by Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, in further traffic modeling in 1999 in response to this question, and again with the updated traffic in the current study. A direct route serves traffic desiring to go from Wilmington to northbound I-71, but not traffic desiring to go southbound on I-71. A direct route doesn't meet the Purpose and Need as well, removing 53 percent of traffic from downtown east of US 68, but only 26 percent west of US 68. (This traffic study was actually done with the connection to I-71 at SR 334. In reality, the new interchange would need to be at least a mile farther east to meet interchange spacing requirements. Moving the connection farther east would mean it would serve even less of the traffic desiring to go southbound on I-71.) It also doesn't serve Wilmington and Clinton County residents traveling from the west side of Wilmington to the east side, and vice versa. While it doesn't do as good a job of removing traffic, the length of construction is approximately the same as Alternative five. Therefore, the construction cost, right-of-way required, relocations of homes required, and farmland required will be approximately the same. In addition, a new interchange on I-71 would be required, which would negatively impact capacity on I-71, while the interchanges at SR 73 and US 68 would be underutilized.
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