First Posted: 3/16/2015
LIMA — With winter on the way out, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 1 is set to ramp up work on its 2015 construction season.
“When we put the snowplows away, we bring the orange barrels out,” District 1 deputy director Kirk Slusher said during a season kickoff event Monday at the Orthopaedic Institute of Ohio.
ODOT will embark on a $2.4 billion, 990-project construction program this year statewide, with 35 projects taking place in District 1.
Included in this year’s program are:
•Continuing phase 3 of the Interstate 75 reconstruction, including the reconstruction of the state Route 65 interchange, with the southbound exit ramp expected to reopen either late spring or early summer and intermittent construction on the Breese Road exchange ramps.
•Installation of a new storm sewer system, curb and gutter on state Route 81 from just west of Interstate 75 to Sugar Street, with construction taking place this spring and summer.
•Resurfacing state Route 114 from state Route 694 to Kalida this summer.
•Replacing a culvert on U.S. Route 224 this summer east of state Route 634, causing a 30-day road closure.
•Replacing the bridge deck on the state Route 67 bridge over the Scioto River in Hardin County this summer, causing a 75-day road closure.
•Replacing two culverts in Hardin County this summer, one on state Route 81 east of county Road 159 and the other on state Route 31 north of township Road 190, each causing a 30-day road closure.
Slusher also took time to emphasize the new Move Over law in Ohio, calling for motorists to move to an adjacent lane or slow down for any vehicle with flashing lights on the side of the road, including maintenance crews.
“There’s been a lot of talk about distracted driving, and for us, that is the most dangerous thing about working on the roadway when someone’s not paying attention to what they should be doing,” he said. “The Ohio Move Over law is extremely critical for us to get communication out to the traveling public to abide by the law.”
