News
Orange barrels are blooming on Ohio’s roadways as construction season starts up
By: Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — Now that winter is over, road construction season is underway in Ohio.
There are 950 road and bridge projects totaling $2.8 billion set for this year. That includes 39 major projects costing over $10 million each, and 885 bridges set for repairs or replacement. And the 176 safety projects will use nearly 5,700 miles of pavement, or enough to pave a two-lane road from New York City to Los Angeles.
There are several new projects, but ODOT’s Matt Bruning said most of the gas tax revenue invested in infrastructure projects will go to resurfacing, widening, improving and revamping existing interstates and state routes.
“About 93 cents of every dollar we are investing in our construction program this year is simply taking care of what’s already here – so, preserving the system, maintaining the pavement and the bridges that we already have, as opposed to building new,” Bruning said.
This year has already been a bad one for ODOT work crews. Bruning said there have already been 43 workers struck in work zones so far in 2024, compared to 56 in all of last year. That includes 16 crashes with ODOT snow plows in January alone.
ODOT’s official kickoff of the 2024 construction season starts Wednesday, but here are some highlights:
- 176 safety projects using nearly 5,700 miles of pavement – enough to pave a two-lane road from New York City to Los Angeles
- Repairing/replacing 885 bridges
- Continuing work on I-70/I-71 in downtown Columbus
- I-70 resurfacing in eastern Ohio
- I-76/I-77 reconstruction in Akron
- State Rt 8 Hi-level bridge replacement in Summit County
- I-90 pavement replacement in Cuyahoga County
- I-75/County Road 99 interchange in northwest Ohio
- I-75 reconstruction in Dayton
- US Rt 33 pavement repairs in southeast Ohio