COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio transportation officials say $2.5 billion in road construction projects scheduled this year is a record.
The Ohio Department of Transportation announced the plan for 936 projects Thursday for this year’s construction season.
The work includes five different projects along the Turnpike, a new interchange at I-71 and Martin Luther King Blvd. in Cincinnati’s “Uptown” area and improvements to I-75 through Dayton and in Wood, Hancock and Lucas counties.
Ohio Department of Transportation director Jerry Wray tells The Columbus Dispatch that “we are working at capacity.”
The agency said the projects will be partially paid for with $1.5 billion produced by the Ohio Turnpike. Another $600 million in savings from the agency’s operational budget have also helped put several delayed projects back on track. Much of that work will begin this year.
The most important central Ohio projects:
The North Side Fix is the biggest, and potentially the most frustrating, for the largest number of drivers. It involves widening US 23 (High Street) from four to six lanes from I-270 in Franklin County to Lazelle Road in Delaware County, constructing two northbound express lanes on US 23, north of The Outer Belt. Underway since September, the $71.46 million project is slated for completion in 2016.
Two southbound lanes and three northbound lanes of US 23 will be maintained. There will be periodic nighttime lane and ramp closures with posted detours and lane closures on I-270 during off-peak hours.
In the same area, crews are repairing the slope on westbound I-270 at Worthington-Galena Road, which is scheduled to be complete in September.
The $27.26 million Mound Street Connector is part of the ongoing Columbus Crossroads project near downtown and involves construction of a new bridge ramp from I-70 west to Mound Street, improvements on Mound Street from Washington Avenue to 4th Street and replacement of the 18th Street bridge over I-70. Work began in September and is scheduled for completion in September.
Drivers can expect the permanent closures of the ramp from I-70 west to 4th Street and the ramp from Fulton Street to I-71 north upon completion. There will be nighttime lane closures on I-70. One lane of two-way traffic will be maintained on Mound Street.
A summer-long project to relieve congestion at one of the area’s busiest interchanges is underway. The $4.9 million project to realign I-70 ramps and widen Hilliard-Rome Road from I-70 to the Meijer store traffic signal on the West Side is scheduled for completion in October.
Two lanes of traffic will be maintained in each direction on Hilliard-Rome Road, including turn lanes and driveway access, and interchange ramps will remain open.
The $24.5 million widening of I-270 between I-71 and US 23 in southern Franklin County is scheduled to be completed in September.
There are a number of large resurfacing projects slated for this year, including the resurfacing of I-670 from I-70 to east of US 23, pavement repairs and resurfacing of I-71 from I-270 to Powell Road in Delaware County and resurfacing of I-70 from US 40 to US 23.