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Don’t expect slowdowns on I-680 to end anytime soon
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Construction crews pull off old bridge decks to build new ones along Interstate 680 northbound between South Avenue and Market Street. Two projects on the interstate cost about $19 million. The entire seven-bridge project on I-680 is projected to be completed in July 2013.
YOUNGSTOWN
The orange barrels and traffic pattern changes on Interstate 680 aren’t going away anytime soon.
Two bridge projects costing about $19 million — the majority of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s $25 million for Mahoning County construction plans — are ongoing.
“You’re getting 13 bridges repaired pretty heavily,” said Justin Chesnic, spokesman for ODOT District 4.
The smaller project is to provide concrete overlays to six bridges on I-680 between U.S. Route 224 and South Avenue. That project has caused I-680 to be reduced to two lanes in each direction over Midlothian Boulevard and two ramp closures: the I-680 southbound exit to Midlothian Boulevard and I-680 northbound on ramp, which is accessed when drivers are heading east on Midlothian.
“With the concrete overlays, you’re looking at the driving surface on the bridges. They weren’t in the best shape. Structurally, the bridge is fine,” Chesnic said.
The project cost for that is $4.5 million, and the entire project should be done in October, he said.
The main I-680 project is the three-year process of rehabilitating seven bridges on the interstate. The $14.1 million project began last year and three bridges were completed. The entire project will be completed in 2013.
This year, two bridges are under construction. Traffic changes are: Reduced to two lanes on I-680 northbound between South Avenue and Market Street; reduced to one lane on I-680 southbound between Market Street and South Avenue; and the entrance ramp from South Avenue to I-680 northbound and from Powersdale Avenue to I-680 northbound are closed.
“In a situation like this, where you’re redoing bridges on an interstate, you don’t have much choice. The other option is completely closing the interstate down,” Chesnic said.
The bridge rehabilitation involves putting a new top section onto the bridge “to make it young again,” Chesnic said.
“Those bridges are all still safe for travel. If they weren’t, we would close them,” he said.
During the first week of July, the traffic pattern will switch so crews can address the other side of the bridges.
“You have 10-foot lanes, and trucks can still fit in there,” Chesnic said. “Just obey the speed limit. It’s been reduced to 40 miles per hour. And as you get through there, stay alert. Don’t be on your cellphone. Avoid the distractions. It’s a work zone.”
Lt. William Ross of the Youngstown Police Department said as long as everybody maintains the speed limit of 40 miles per hour and the traffic flow pattern, “they’ll be fine.”
City police have jurisdiction on segments of I-680 that flow through the city, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol usually has jurisdiction on interstates.
Ross said about once a week an officer will monitor speed on I-680 and said motorists are doing “reasonably well” with the traffic-pattern changes. He said he is not aware of the traffic unit receiving any complaints about the construction.
“It’s Ohio, and spring starts the construction season. That’s just part of living up here,” he said.