State reviews bids for work at I-80, Rte. 46

AUSTINTOWN -- A Zanesville company has submitted the lowest bid for the project to rebuild the interchange of Interstate 80 and state Route 46. Shelly & amp; Sands bid $7.1 million for the project; the Ohio Department of Transport had estimated that the project would cost $7.6 million. State officials opened bids for the project Tuesday. Information about how many companies submitted bids was not immediately available.
ODOT Spokeswoman Paula Putnam said the state will spend at least three weeks reviewing the Shelly & amp; Sands bid before giving final approval.
The project calls for state Route 46 to be repaved and widened to five lanes at the interchange. The I-80 westbound on and off ramps also will be moved to reduce curves, and the state Route 46 bridge over the Interstate will be rebuilt.
Putnam said work is slated to start in the spring and be complete by July 31.
Putnam also noted that workers are expected to finish paving U.S. 422 this spring. The project stopped on Youngstown's West Side in the fall because the weather became too cold for a special rubber topping to be applied to the new asphalt, she said. It will take about three weeks to complete the work in the spring, she said.