Culvert construction closes state Route 46

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

State Route 46 from New Road to Kirk Road will be closed for five days in April.

From April 11-15, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s $900,000 project to replace culverts around Mahoning County will close part of Route 46 for the workweek in Austintown.

Ken Carano, trustee chairman, described the culvert replacements as something Austintown “needs desperately in that road.”

He compared it to the road work on Raccoon Road last year, part of another ODOT project widening Raccoon Road at U.S. Route 224, from March through August.

“A lot of us were surprised when they started working on Raccoon Road, and you would think after the first time you would learn not to go down there,” he recalled of last year’s project. “But there I was the second time, standing in line like everybody else,” Carano said.

He said for that reason he starts warning people early to ensure they don’t make the same mistake on Route 46.

Mike Dockry, township administrator and road superintendent, said he doesn’t know much about the ODOT project. Because the road is going to be closed, it is obvious there will be traffic inconveniences for the regular through traffic, he noted.

“Watch for the inconvenience and learn how to go around it,” Carano said. “Be prepared.”

The detour will be state Route 11 to Route 224.

The township is undergoing other construction. According to ODOT’s website, the Interstate 80 westbound ramp to Route 11 is closed and traffic is being maintained in two lanes on I-80 eastbound between Route 46 and the Trumbull County line through early June for a bridge replacement and ramp reconstruction. This project will widen I-80 between Route 11 and state Route 193, and is scheduled to be completed in 2018.