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ODOT reviews road-work safety, business help at Youngstown meeting
By jeanne starmack
YOUNGSTOWN
Safety will be a primary concern for road workers, with a new law in place to protect them, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced Thursday.
Department representatives also said businesses affected by road construction will be given information to help ease the inconvenience it will cause.
Representatives also outlined what they consider major projects, continuing and new, that will affect drivers.
ODOT representatives met at the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments offices on East Federal Street in Youngstown.
ODOT’s District 4, which includes Mahoning and Trumbull counties, will see $443 million worth of projects during this year and next year.
Mahoning County will see $63.3 million of that money spent on road improvements, and Trumbull County will see $44.7 million in improvements.
During road work, drivers now are expected to move over when they see an amber light, said Anthony Urankar, ODOT District 4 deputy director.
“You have to move over or get cited,” he said.
He said the law went into effect two weeks ago.
“We work closely with the state patrol out here,” he continued. “We will touch base with them to maintain a safe workplace.”
David Reich, District 4 construction administrator, said the district wants to partner with businesses to make road work easier on them with detour information and enough notice to give them time to prepare.
He said the district will consider high-impact areas. Two in Mahoning County include the replacement of the U.S. Route 224 bridge over state Route 11 in Canfield. A minimum of one lane will be open in each direction on U.S. 224. The ongoing project will be finished in October.
The second project involves the replacement and widening of the Western Reserve Road bridge over Interstate 680. The project also includes a right-turn lane on Western Reserve Road at the I-680 north entrance ramp and resurfacing of I-680 from Route 224 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Western Reserve Road will be closed for 75 days. Access to all residences and businesses will be maintained during that project, which will start this month and continue until October 2015.
District 4 public information officer Brent Kovacs said the Western Reserve Road project is considered one of the biggest with a cost of $9.7 million.
The widening of the bridge on Route 224 over I-680, an ongoing project to be finished next year, is expected to be finished this October. It is a $6.1 million project.
The rehabilitation over the bridge on U.S. Route 62 over state Route 279 will cost $19.2 million, Kovacs said. One lane of traffic will be open on Route 62, and entrance and exit ramps at Himrod and South avenues will be closed for 12 months. The project is expected to be done by June 2016.
In Trumbull County, a large project will close Mount Everett Road starting this month until the end of construction in October 2016.
The project includes replacing two bridges on Interstate 80 over Mount Everett.
Access to all residences and businesses will be maintained. The project will cost $13.2 million.