News

ODOT Delays Closure Of Intersection At US 33 And Johnson Road

By: Atish Baidya
Posted on: Thursday, March 14, 2013

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The Ohio Department of Transportation is delaying plans to close the intersection at U.S. Route 33 and Johnson Road at least the fall of 2013.

ODOT officials said the closure won’t happen until after upgrades to the state route 682 bridge are completed. The project is scheduled to start in April.

District 10 Deputy Director T. Steve Williams announced the decision during a meeting with community members Wednesday evening.

ODOT spokesman David Rose said the decision was made after based on input from the community and local elected officials.

“We made that decision to listen to them,” Rose said. “We will move forward and keep the intersection open at this time however we will be closing the median and let’s move forward and come up with another idea, another plan.”

ODOT will be working with the Athens County Engineer to design an access road underneath U.S. Route 33.

ODOT said safety concerns prompted the decision to close the intersection. Crash data suggests 55 percent of crashes at the intersection occurred from left turn movements as well as other illegal movements according to ODOT.