COLUMBUS, Ohio – A project to redesign one of the busiest intersections on the West Side has kicked into high gear with the closing of the Roberts Road bridge over I-270.
The rebuild of the Roberts Road/I-270 interchange, which averages just over 100 crashes a year, will cost an estimated an estimated $9.7 million, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
ODOT says the bridge will remain closed for 90 days but all ramps at the interchange will remain open and there is an incentive for contractor Shelly and Sands to reopen the bridge early.
ODOT plans to build a diverging diamond interchange at I-270 and Roberts Road to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow by switching traffic to the opposite sides of the road as it passes over the freeway and replacing cloverleaf entrance ramps to I-270 with ramps that are free-flow turns.
ODOT engineers determined if the bridge was closed completely, instead of maintaining one lane in each direction, construction would be complete in half the time or six months, spokeswoman Nancy Burton said.
East and westbound Roberts Road would be detoured using the I-270/Cemetery Road Interchange, Westbelt, Trabue and Wilson Roads.
-Image courtesy ODOT.