ODOT Staff Spreads Word on US 224, I-680 Construction
BOARDMAN, Ohio -- The Ohio Department of Transportation has put on its game face as it goes the extra mile -- on foot, no less -- to allay the fears and concerns of stores and employers whose customers and workforces use the exit ramps to U.S. 224 from Interstate 680.
Two ODOT employees, public information officers Brent Kovacs and Justin Chesnic, Wednesday stopped in shops and offices within a mile radius of the heavily used interchange. The westbound exit empties into 224 just a few feet east of Tiffany Boulevard North.
The Business Journal was invited to shadow Kovacs and follow him as he dropped off brochures in medical and professional offices in Windham Court off South Avenue.
Everyone who travels this segment of 224, it seems, is aware of the $5.8 million grand plan to widen the overpass above I-680 and realign and widen to two lanes the westbound exit ramp to 224. That will allow cars to more safely turn south into Tiffany South, Kovacs says.
While employees who drive I-680 to work knew that the work began Monday, few were fully aware of the scope and details of the project. Most have been bracing themselves for inconvenience and delays.
As Kovacs handed a brochure to Elaine Kosa, a receptionist at The Vein Center and Medspa, she told him, a trace of apprehension in her voice, “I’ve been waiting for this. I know it’s coming.”
“Any questions?” Kovacs asked.
“What if I get stuck in traffic?” she bantered. “What can you do?”
It turned out Kosa is a veteran of driving through at least one other ODOT major project. “I drive from North Jackson,” she informed a reporter and videographer. “I dealt with the Meander [Reservoir] bridge for seven years.”
As the project progresses and traffic is restricted to one lane in each direction, the receptionist says she will get off at the Midlothian Boulevard exit and drive to South Avenue rather than contend with the anticipated traffic backup. “I did a ‘pre-run’ last week,” she said.
Here’s what ODOT and Kovacs want those who drive 224 and I-680 to know:
The work encompasses widening the overpass above 680, replacing a culvert that aligns the exit ramp from 680 to 224 west and a realignment of 224 to the I-680 north entrance ramp. Workers will resurface U.S. 224 from Tiffany Boulevard east to Audubon Lane in the village of Poland. They will also upgrade lights, traffic signals and sewers.
From now until the project is completed (scheduled for October 2014), at least one lane of traffic both eastbound and westbound will be maintained at all times. The westbound exit ramp from 680 to 224 “will have occasional closures,” ODOT says, adding that “all detours will be posted. Access to all businesses and residences will be maintained.”
Motorists can expect some lane restrictions in 224 at night -- 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. -- on the overpass from where Tiffany intersects with 224 and into Poland.
Next month traffic on 224 will be restricted to one lane in both directions and this will last until November.
In September, “the exit ramp from I-680 north to U.S. 224 east/west will be closed 10 days. The detour will be Western Reserve Road to South Avenue."
Between March and October of next year, traffic will be restricted to one lane in both directions in 224 from Tiffany to Audubon Lane. In addition, the entrance ramp to I-680 northbound from 224 and the exit ramp from 680 southbound to the exit ramp to Poland (eastbound) will be closed from time to time.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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