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First Sign of Spring: 'Road Construction Ahead': State Plans to Spend $1.4 Billion on Road Projects, Including Plenty of Work on Columbus-Area Routes

Posted on: Sunday, 19 March 2006, 15:00 CST

By Tim Doulin, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Mar. 19--With spring comes warmer weather and a whole new crop of highway headaches across town and across the state.

"People really need to know more than one way to get to work, and even practice it a couple of times," said J.P. Blackwood, program coordinator for Paving the Way, which serves as a clearinghouse for information about roadconstruction projects throughout central Ohio.

And depending on where you're traveling this summer, the same planning is probably a good idea for your vacation driving.

The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to spend $1.4 billion on construction projects this year. The total includes about $100 million in resurfacing and maintenance.

There are five projects that each cost more than $100 million.

One of the state's largest projects this year is in Mahoning County, where I-80 will be rebuilt and widened from the Ohio Turnpike to Rt. 46. The estimated cost is $86.7 million.

Closer to home, crews will begin widening Rt. 161 from a two-lane country road to a four-lane highway east of New Albany. It is one of the most congested corridors in the area. The first phase runs east from the New Albany bypass to Watkins Road in Licking County.

"Most of the project will be on a new alignment," said Cindy Brown, a state transportation spokeswoman. "So traffic will remain as it is today on the existing Rt. 161. There will be minimal traffic impact."

The second phase will continue the widening of Rt. 161 to an existing four-lane road that runs east through Granville and Newark. The entire project, which is expected to be finished by the end of 2008, will cost about $137 million.

The Northeast Expressway Transformation, which involves rebuilding interchanges at Rt. 161, I-270 and Sunbury Road, is about 60 percent complete. Motorists can expect more ramp closures associated with the project that will last anywhere from a week (westbound Rt. 161 to Sunbury Road) to six months (Sunbury Road ramp to eastbound 161).

Workers have begun building a 420-foot long tunnel that will carry westbound Rt. 161 traffic to southbound I-270.

The $126 million project, which started in 2004, is expected to wrap up in mid-2007.

The new interchange on I-71 north of Polaris Parkway is expected to open to traffic by November. About 50,000 motorists use the Polaris interchange each day, the state said.

In April, work is scheduled to begin on an elevated flyover ramp that will take eastbound I-270 traffic to northbound I-71. The ramp is designed to reduce the number of vehicles having to weave across traffic to exit, and to reduce delays for I-270 motorists trying to get onto northbound I-71.

Two other I-270 interchanges, at Rts. 23 and 315, on the north central Outerbelt will be rebuilt, though work won't begin for at least two years.

John Beal, a Delaware resident who drives I-270 to his job in Hilliard, said he is happy that something is being done to improve his commute.

"The 315 interchange is really bad," Beal said. "There are a lot of accidents there."

Additional traffic signals to regulate vehicles entering freeway ramps and 11 new message boards on area roadways could help reduce slowdowns. "Those are tools to help ODOT and the city work together to manage traffic and keep it moving," Blackwood said.

tdoulin@dispatch.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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