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May 4 2019
Vol. XIV • No. 9
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Cincinnati Expressway Improvements Move Forward By Irwin Rapoport
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Only a few contracts remain to be completed in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s 11-phase I-75 Mill Creek Expressway project in Greater Cincinnati, an initiative started in April 2010 and valued at between $550 million and $650 million. The project is resurfacing and adding lanes to I-75 between the Paddock Road interchange and the Western Hills Viaduct and also includes improvements to the interchanges at Hopple Street, I74, Mitchell Avenue, Norwood Lateral and Paddock Road — a stretch of approximately 8 mi. Currently, the only ongoing projects are in Phase 5A and Phase 8A. Phase 5A is an $86.9 million contract that was awarded to Walsh Construction at the end of June 2018. The general contractor started the work September 2018 and should be finished the job by September 2022. The design-build project has crews widening 2-mi. of southbound I-75 from three to four
ODOT photo
Two phases of the 11-phase Mill Creek Expressway renovation project are currently under way.
lanes, in addition to resurfacing it; connecting the highway to the improvements from Hopple and Mitchell street projects; and reconfiguring the ramps from I-74 eastbound to I-75, as well as redoing some of the bridge deck on eastbound I-74 over Beekman Street and Elmore, constructing some retaining walls along 1-75 and
completing additional improvements to the connection of I-74 EB to I-75. Phase 8A is a $7.5 million contract awarded to The Great Lakes Construction Company as a major subcontractor in early June 2017. Work on this phase began at the end of September 2017 and is expected to be completed at the
end of June. This phase will replace the Seymour Avenue and Paddock Road bridges over I-75. The work on Phase 8A is occurring in preparation for future mainline I-75 construction that will be included in Phase 8 of the Mill Creek Expressway group of projects. “These two phases continue
ODOT’s efforts to improve safety and traffic flow along the I-75 corridor in southwest Ohio,” said ODOT District 8 Communications Manager Brian Cunningham. “Nearly 75 percent of the Mill Creek projects replace existing pavement that was deteriorating. The lane addition and interchange work help to address growing congestion levels and choke points on I-75 in this area of Greater Cincinnati.” American StructurePoint and Prime AE designed the infrastructure plan for Phase 5A and Evans, Mechwart, Hambleton and Tilton Inc. was the design consultant for Phase 8A. Daily traffic on I-75 in greater Cincinnati ranges from 100,000 to 150,000, and daily traffic on I-74 is 100,000 vehicles. Chris Tuminello, ODOT’s transportation engineer of the 5A project, noted that several utilities have to be relocated in the work zone. “Duke Energy Transmission has some high voltage lines in the area and they’re relocating and raising them for phase 5A and 5B,” he said, noting that there are some see EXPRESSWAY page 4
DeWine Reinstates Funding for Central Ohio Projects Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recently announced that three Central Ohio transportation projects that were in jeopardy of cancelation will now move forward due to increased revenue that will be generated by Ohio’s latest transportation budget. The budget bill, House Bill 62, was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by DeWine earlier in April. The bill will generate more than $800 million a year in additional funding for maintenance projects and
important safety upgrades on roads throughout Ohio. The Central Ohio projects include three future phases of the Columbus Crossroads project that will reconfigure the I-70/I-71 interchange through downtown Columbus to decrease congestion and reduce crashes. Several phases of the project are already finished, but the new funding ensures that these future phases of the project will eventually be complete. “This interchange was built in the 1960s, and
Columbus has long outgrown it,” said DeWine. “Right now, drivers are traveling on a highway system that wasn’t built to handle the number of cars that travel in and out of Columbus today. Now that these three phases of the Columbus Crossroads project will proceed as planned, we can look forward to a safer interchange in the future.” The future phases of the Columbus Crossroads reconstruction and reconfiguration plan, which are expected to see PROJECTS page 7