ODOT approves I-80 widening between Liberty, Austintown
By jeanne starmack
liberty
Interstate 80 from Austintown to Liberty will be widened in 2015.
The Ohio Department of Transportation will add a third lane from Interstate 680 to state Route 193.
The Transportation Review Advisory Council, which assists ODOT in selecting projects, announced Thursday that $123.4 million has been approved for the widening.
It is the final approval in the process.
The project is part of Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s Jobs and Transportation plan. The plan calls for $3 billion in infrastructure improvements and 60,000 new jobs over the next six years, ODOT announced Thursday. Kasich announced in July that $1.5 billion of that money will come from bonds that will be paid back with future Ohio Turnpike tolls, said ODOT spokeswoman Melissa Ayers.
The project should start in the spring of 2015, Ayers said.
Additional design work will be completed in 2014, she said.
She said the two lanes of the interstate in both directions will likely be kept open during peak traffic times, with one lane a possibility when traffic is lighter.
Pat Ungaro, Liberty Township administrator, was on TRAC for 14 years before stepping down last year.
“The traffic pattern is increasing every year,” Ungaro said Thursday. “I think it’s a necessary project.”