02-08-03: ODOT to bring many highway improvements to the Grand Lake area

02-08-03: ODOT to bring many highway improvements to the Grand Lake area

By TIMOTHY COX
The Daily Standard

    The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) plans about $16 million worth of highway work in the Grand Lake St. Marys area this spring, summer and fall.
    The work involves major resurfacing projects, a couple of total street reconstructions and some bridge and culvert replacements. In Auglaize County, ODOT will do about $10.6 million worth of improvements while Mercer County will see about $5.5 million in highway projects.
    The largest Mercer County project is the estimated $1.2 million widening and reconstruction of Havemann Road. Celina city officials have been working toward the project for some time and are partnering with ODOT to complete the project. ODOT is picking up most of the cost and a state grant is covering the remaining share.
    Although Havemann Road is not a state highway, is does provide access to adjacent Ohio 29 and is considered a heavily used feeder for the highway, ODOT District 7 spokeswoman Rhonda Higgins said. Construction contracts for the job will be awarded late this spring or early this summer, she said.
    A similar city-state partnership project is on tap for downtown St. Marys. The state is paying most of of the $670,000 cost to replace the High Street bridge over the St. Marys River. Upon completion, all three major bridges over the river within the city limits will have been replaced within the last decade, Safety-Service Director Mike Weadock said.
    The high Street bridge project should begin this spring.
    The largest project in the area is the resurfacing of U.S. 33 between Wapakoneta and St. Marys. Lane restrictions will be in place during construction but the highway will remain open, Higgins said.
    In Mercer County, other projects include resurfacing of Ohio 118 between Ohio 29 west of Celina and the Darke County line, including through the villages of Coldwater and St. Henry. The work will cost about $1.1 million and will be done in two stints in the late summer and fall, Higgins said.
    State officials also plan to widen and resurface Mercer Road, which intersects with U.S. 127 near Mercer. That work is expected to cost $1.5 million. ODOT also plans to pave U.S. 127 from Mercer north to the Van Wert County line at a cost of $520,000.
    Ohio 219 is to be resurfaced from the western edge of Coldwater to the Indian state line at an estimated cost of $690,000. A bridge culvert on Ohio 118 in Dublin Township just north of Ohio 707 is to be replaced at a cost of $146,000.
    Other Auglaize County work includes some minor resurfacing along Interstate 75 from Wapakoneta south to the Shelby County line. The estimated cost is $500,000 and crews will address only problem areas, Higgins said.
    Two sections of Ohio 65 will be repaved at a combined cost of $779,000. ODOT will resurface the highway from the Shelby County line to U.S. 33 and from U.S. 33 to the Allen County line later in the season. Ohio 198 within the city of Wapakoneta also is targeted for resurfacing at a cost of $160,000.
    Two bridges are slated for replacement in Auglaize County. A bridge on Main Street Road, just north of Buckland, will be replaced at an estimated cost of $670,000. Another bridge on Ohio 197 in Salem Township is scheduled for replacement at a cost of $185,000.
    Road closures and detours that may become necessary for any of the projects will be publicized as the construction dates draw nearer, Higgins said.

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