By Rick Rouan, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – Travelers heading north for a Labor Day weekend getaway will have fewer orange barrels in their way as they leave Columbus.
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For the first time in three years, all lane restrictions have been lifted at the Interstate 270/Route 23 interchange on the North Side.
That should make it a little easier for those hitting the road. The AAA Ohio Auto Club is expecting the number of people traveling for the holiday to stay flat compared with last year, but those travelers are taking longer vacations.
“We do see people with some more disposable incomes and they’re using that, it seems, to take these longer, bigger trips,” said Kimberly Schwind, AAA spokeswoman.
The North Side Fix project isn’t finished yet. Construction crews still need to finish paving and painting lane stripes, said Nancy Burton, Ohio Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
Weekend gas prices around Ohio and surrounding states
ODOT has been working since 2013 on the $71.5 million project to remake interchange ramps, widen Route 23 and add underground express lanes in a trench on Route 23. Opening all of those lanes should help traffic flow more freely through what’s been a major bottleneck.
Drivers still will have to deal with orange barrels nearby for construction on the Interstate 270 interchange with Route 315.