ODOT one year from completing massive I-80-Meander project

By Elise Franco

A spill-contaminant system will be installed for the bridges over the reservoir.

AUSTINTOWN — One of the largest Ohio Department of Transportation projects in the state is just about one year from completion.

The widening and reconstructing of Interstate 80 to six lanes, from the Ohio Turnpike to the I-80/state Route 11 interchange, began in April 2006, said Justin Chesnic, public information specialist for ODOT District IV.

Bridge work on the $91.5 million project is being done by Great Lakes Construction of Hinkley, and Anthony Allega Cement Contracting of Valley View is doing the mainline paving.

“The eastbound lanes were completed in 2007, and we’ve started on the westbound lanes,” Chesnic said. “They’re going to continue to set the concrete beams through the winter, and the pavement will be finished up by next year.”

Chesnic said the eastbound lanes are now open to traffic, and at least two lanes will be maintained on both sides of the highway throughout all phases of the project.

He said to keep motorists from running into major traffic issues, the 100-foot-long, 120,000-pound concrete beams are driven onto a barge in the Meander Reservoir where a crane picks them up and places them on the structure.

“All this is done to ease traffic,” Chesnic said.

On an average day, he said about 65,000 vehicles — about 45 percent of which is truck traffic — travel over the bridge.

“This is the third-busiest truck-traffic road in the United States,” Chesnic said.

Joe Alfano, ODOT project engineer, said it looks like all delays have passed, and the rest of the construction process should run smoothly.

“The bridge is all we have left to do,” he said. “We expect traffic to be unchanged until the final movement, possibly in June.”

Before construction began, Alfano said the bridge was two 12-foot-wide lanes with 2-foot-wide shoulders.

“Now we have three 12-foot-wide lanes and two 12-foot-wide shoulders in each direction,” he said.

Although drivers have more room and a smoother surface to drive on, Alfano cautions motorists to slow down, especially through the construction zone and in winter months.

A feature Chesnic said ODOT is particularly excited about is a waste runoff system that’s been incorporated into the bridge’s design.

“It’s the first [system] of its kind in Ohio,” Chesnic said. “If there’s any kind of spill, contaminant could get into the reservoir.”

The spill-contaminant system will allow any spilled chemicals to drain into a ditch, giving emergency crews a 30-minute window to contain it before it filters into the reservoir, he said.

The bridge project also includes replacement of the twin bridges over Meander and the bridges at North Turner, Ohltown and North Lipkey roads.

efranco@vindy.com