COLUMBUS, Ohio â Big changes are coming which the state Transportation Department says will improve safety at one of the most congested interchanges in Franklin County.
Lanes and new traffic signals will be added to the I-70/Hilliard-Rome Road interchange, beginning this spring, ODOT spokeswoman Nancy Burton said.
-See an illustration of what ODOT has planned.
Two additional lanes will be added to the ramp from I-70 west to Hilliard-Rome Road north.
Instead of vehicles stopping and waiting to exit as vehicles travel northbound on Hilliard-Rome Road at interstate speeds, the additional lanes can accommodate a greater number of vehicles, Burton said.
A traffic signal at the end of the ramp will reduce weaving or jockeying for position as drivers shoot across several lanes on Hilliard-Rome Road to turn left at Renner Road.
Burton says ODOT expects this first phase of the work to be completed in July before the Roberts Road bridges over I-270 close.
The extra lanes on the ramp from I-70 to Hilliard-Rome Road north will be an alternate route for motorists who want to avoid the Roberts Road construction, Burton said.
The $5.2 million project is expected to wrap up by fall of 2014, Burton said.
More improvements are planned next year:
-An additional lane in each direction on Hilliard-Rome Road north of Renner, extending to the Meijer driveway to reduce congestion and back-ups down the entrance ramps to I-70.
-The I-70 west to Hilliard Rome Road south exit will be realigned to a âTâ intersection with a traffic signal to reduce weaving between e motorists exiting and those travelling south on Hilliard Rome Road.