Highway

By Denise Dick

Relief for Route 224 headaches due Nov. 2010

Lane closures remain westbound at Mill Creek, and traffic patterns have changed near South Avenue.

It’s already a headache to travel along busy U.S. Route 224, but construction projects in two areas are slowing traffic even more.

Route 224 westbound at Mill Creek remains down to one lane even though work has halted on a project to replace the bridge deck on the span over Mill Creek. It’s an $800,000 project.

Kristen Erickson, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation District 4, said that as the contractor A.P. O’Horo, Youngstown, worked to replace the bridge deck, it found posts that support it were more deteriorated than initially believed.

That required additional work and because the posts are in the water, environmental permits must be secured to complete the work. That requires paperwork.

“It’s on hold at this point,” Erickson said.

Work on the project stopped May 15 and the spokeswoman said ODOT hopes it can resume within the week.

Two lanes of traffic are open in the eastbound direction through that section of Route 224. Pinewood Drive and the adjacent drive to Mill Creek Park at the intersection of 224 both remain closed and detours are posted.

Travelers along Route 224 near South Avenue have been enduring a change in traffic pattern for another project: To widen 224 with the addition of right-turn lanes from Boardman Park Drive to just west of South. It includes improvements to 15 traffic signals from Parkside Drive to Tiffany Boulevard.

Phase one, installing a culvert, is expected to be complete by early this week. During phase two, which begins when the first phase is done, five lanes will be open.

Kenny McBride, manager at Tan Fastic in the Presidential Square Plaza, said the project hasn’t affected business.

“Our business has remained quite constant,” he said.

Elizabeth Hirt, program manager at Easter Seals Adult Day Service, said construction has caused some problems and delays at that agency.

“It’s been inconvenient,” she said.

Buses that carry adult day-care participants have a difficult time getting into and out of the agency’s parking lot because other motorists are backed up, Hirt said.

When it’s done, though, she believes the project will be a major improvement to the corridor.

Phase three, to begin when phase two is done, involves improvements to storm sewers. The entire project is scheduled to be complete by November 2010. Shelly and Sands of Zanesville is the contractor.

“We haven’t had to have any closures or detours during the project,” Erickson said. “It’s just with it being such a high-traffic area, there have been some delays.”

For the most part, people have been understanding, she said.

“Because the work stopped on the Mill Creek bridge project, some people thought we just stopped working on one project to start another one,” Erickson said.

They are two separate projects, though, with different contractors.

When completed, the changes will make a positive difference, so the spokeswoman believes people are willing to tolerate the delays now.

denise_dick@vindy.com