ODOT’s latest traffic and construction advisories

AKRON — Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 4, which includes Mahoning and Trumbull counties, has announced traffic changes and restrictions.

The following lane restrictions/closures are in place on the Madison Avenue Expressway at Valley Street in Youngstown:

• The Madison Avenue Expressway (U.S. routes 62/422/state Route 7) from Wick Avenue to Oak Street is reduced to one lane in each direction until early December for bridge work.

• The exit ramp from U.S. 62/Route 7 southbound to the Madison Avenue Expressway westbound is closed until mid-August. The detour is Albert Street to McGuffey Road to Wick to the expressway westbound.

• Valley is closed at the expressway until early December. For westbound Valley traffic, the detour is McHenry Street to Albert to McGuffey to Andrews Avenue. For eastbound Valley traffic, the detour is Andrews to McGuffey to Palm Street. to Star Street.

Access to all residences and establishments will be maintained during construction.

The work is part of a $7.3 million project to rehabilitate the bridges on U.S. 62/U.S. 422/Route 7 over Crab Creek, Andrews, Valley and the Norfolk Southern railroad. The project includes replacement of the bridge decks and approach slabs as well as substructure repairs. The entire project is scheduled to be complete by mid-June 2010.

In Boardman, the following will occur next week on U.S. Route 224 for reconstruction work:

• Driveways to the Charter One Bank and the Park Diner will be closed. Access is available to the Charter One bank via South Avenue and to the Park Diner by South and Route 224.

• Driveways from Panera Bread to Kmart will have intermittent closures. Access will be maintained via the adjacent driveway.

Until further notice,

• U.S. 224 from Boardman Park Drive to just west of South has two lanes open in each direction with an additional shared left-turn lane. This is expected to remain throughout the month of July.

The work is part of a $5.2 million project to widen 224 through the addition of right-turn lanes from Boardman Park Drive to just west of South. It also includes the addition of dual left-turn lanes from 224 to South and improvements to 15 traffic signals from Parkside Drive. to Tiffany Boulevard. The entire project is scheduled to be complete by late October 2009.

In Youngstown, the entrance ramp to Interstate 680 northbound from Woodland Avenue is open.

The exit ramp from I-680 southbound to state Route 193/U.S. 422, will be closed until 6 a.m. Monday for bridge painting occurs. The detour will be I-680 south to U.S. Route 62 east to 422 west.

Until further notice, I-680 from South to Steel Street has various lane restrictions in either or both directions from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. for resurfacing and bridge painting.

The work is part of a $6.9 million project to resurface I-680 from Steel to U.S. 224. The project also includes lighting improvements, drainage improvements and minor bridge repairs. The entire project is scheduled to be complete by mid-September.