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ODOT Planning Super Street In Fairfield County
< < Back toPlanning is underway for improvements to a stretch of road some motorists might find frustrating when traveling on US 33 to Columbus.
The Ohio Department of Transportation recently received $8.5 million to build a more efficient intersection at US 33 and Winchester Road near Carroll in Fairfield County.
Officials are now in the preliminary design and engineering phases.
District 5 Planning Engineer Ty Thompson says this type of design process is lengthy and could take two to three years to complete.
Construction for this project will not begin until 2016.
Thompson says this new intersection will help mitigate the large amounts of traffic flowing both to and from the highway.
"You are always going to have some back-up because it's a signalized intersection, but what we are anticipating is that that back-up is going to be decreased significantly," says Thompson.
Thompson says that on regular roads and intersections all movements are done at one single location.
A super street will allow those traveling on side streets toward the intersection to turn off before they reach the main intersection.
Instead of having one signalized location there will be three.
"It just breaks up the movements to allow more signal timing to go to the main street at US 33," adds Thompson.
Thompson says that people traveling on US 33 coming from Athens will have a much easier time getting through the intersection.
But he adds that the real improvement will be seen by those leaving the Columbus area and traveling back to Athens.
"From Columbus to Athens, in the p.m. peak which is where the significant back up occurs, you are going to have a much greater time getting through that intersection with the improvements," says Thompson.
This super street is expected to last for 10 to 15 years.