33 Bypass should be finished August/September this year
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 10:54 am
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article- ... -2013.html
ODOT hopes for continued progress on 33 bypass in 2013
By David DeWitt
In 2012, the Ohio Department of Transportation had a big year with the U.S. Rt. 33 Nelsonville bypass, opening several miles of it months ahead of schedule.
The department looks to make 2013 even better, with the rest of the bypass slated to open also a little ahead of schedule, perhaps in late August or early September according to a spokesperson.
Work on the bypass for now is on hold for the winter, according to a press release from the department outlining all that was done in 2012.
"Although work on the 8.5-mile-long bypass will start back up next spring, 2012 was a highly productive and successful year for the $138 million project," the release stated.
ODOT broke ground on phases two and three on Oct. 13, 2009. Phase one started construction in 2007 with a $23 million contract and was completed in 2009.
"We couldn't be more pleased with the progress we've made this year," said ODOT District 10 Deputy Director Steve Williams in the release. "Once we open the bypass next year, this major corridor and busy truck route will not only be safer to travel but will further enhance economic development opportunities in southeastern Ohio."
From January 2012 to November 2012, contractors Kokosing Construction Company, which has handled phase two, and Beaver Excavating, which has been working on phase three, along with their subcontractors, logged more than 160,000 hours combined on the two phases. The ODOT release noted that this is equivalent to one person working 24 hours per day for 18 years.
In an interview Monday, ODOT spokesperson David Rose confirmed that phase two wasn't supposed to open until this coming spring, but the department was able to open it in October.
This part of the bypass includes more than three miles of highway earthwork and 4.56 miles of four-lane paving on the northwest side of the bypass, according to the release. It also included construction of the interchange on the west side of Nelsonville and the construction of four bridges.
All told, Kokosing poured four bridge decks, installed 19,000 feet of guardrail, placed more than 52,000 tons of aggregate base, paved 8,646 cubic yards of asphalt, placed more than 475,000 square yards of seeding and mulch and installed 89,000 feet of drainage pipe, approximately 17 miles long.
ODOT called it "one of the greatest accomplishments made this year" to open the 3.8 miles of phase two nearly nine months ahead of schedule.
"The opening of phase two ahead of schedule is incredible and illustrates the hard work ODOT and the contractors have been doing since we broke ground in 2009," phase two Project Engineer Audrey Seals said in the news release. "Motorists can now get into and out of Nelsonville much safer than before."
MEANWHILE, PHASE THREE begins near Doanville on the project's southeast side and includes construction of 3.87 miles of four-lane highway. Phase three also includes the construction of the interchange between Rt. 33, state Rt. 78 and state Rt. 691.
The project will end up rerouting state Rt. 78 1.63 miles through the Happy Hollow area to form the interchange, according to ODOT.
In 2012, Beaver workers excavated the final 400,000 cubic yards of dirt and place the last 170,000 yards of embankment. They also placed 15,000 cubic yards of grout, installed 111,000 feet of drainage pipe, placed 75,000 tons of aggregate base, paved 70,000 square yards of concrete pavement, poured five bridge decks and placed 437,000 square yards of seeding and mulching.
"We accomplished our goals this year of finishing the excavation work, mine grouting and pouring the concrete decks," said phase three Project Engineer Daniel McDonald in the news release. "Next year we'll focus on paving, finishing the State Route 78 interchange and installing safety items such as pavement markings, signs and lighting."
ODOT spokesperson Rose told The NEWS that phase three is on time right now, adding that it's a much larger project than phase two.
"At the end of 2012, looking at the stats you can see that a lot of work has been done," he said. "The good thing about this type of project, where it's a new alignment that doesn't impact a lot of traffic, it's a lot of dirt work. With that much dirt work, you can work nearly year around. That really helps speed up the process."
Another thing that helped was the mild winter last year, he said.
Looking toward 2013, Rose said, paving will start on phase three.
"It's always nice when you go from looking at dirt to blacktop. It's an exciting part," he said. "And then we do the pavement marking, the striping, the signage, the lighting, all those necessary safety items. And then we'll be able to open it up."
Rose said that at its heart the bypass project is about two things: Safety and economic development.
"There are more serious crashes – rear-end accidents – that happen in Nelsonville because of all the lights and all the different, we call them, conflict points – driveways coming onto 33 and the bottleneck," he said. "So the ultimate goal for the bypass was always to make the road safer and finally have that last piece of U.S. 33 to be all four lanes."
Actually, U.S. Rt. 33 between Columbus and its state Rt. 124 extension to Ravenswood, W.Va. and Interstate 77, does have two two-lane sections, between Athens and Shade, and between north of Pomeroy and Ravenswood, though it was built on a four-lane right-of-way for possible future expansion. The highway is straighter and wider than it used to be, though it still has a 55-mile speed limit.
Having nearly all of U.S. Rt. 33 four-lane highway, he said, from an economic standpoint, opens up one of the busiest truck routes in the state.
"By having this new alignment, it's going to be much faster and much safer, and we're probably going to see an increase in truck traffic, which is great for the economy," he said.