An Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) official recently discussed the current project on State Route 41 between Prairie and Bloomingburg-New Holland roads.
Over the last week those traveling on State Route 41 toward Jeffersonville from Washington Court House would have no doubt encountered the construction project on their way, but thankfully — according to ODOT Transportation Manager Three (TM3) Ronnie Ward — the project should be completed this Friday. Ward said to the residents that he appreciates their patience as they finish the project.
“The goal is for the roadway to be open no later than that,” Ward said. “We were trying to get ahead of a future paving project coming soon to State Route 41 so we put an upsized crossover pipe in the roadway. We had to dig a catch basin and remove the guardrail. The road will be paved all the way to Madison so we have a couple crossover pipes we want to get put in over there, but this is the only one for Fayette County.”
The other reason for setting the pipe now is due to Miami Trace Local Schools being out of session for the summer. He explained that it makes it a little easier to do this kind of work with less people traveling to and from the school.
“Miami Trace has always been fantastic with us and worked well with us,” Ward said. “So it’s a good time to work to avoid disrupting the bus schedules and everything when they get back in school.”
During the conversation about the project, Ward wanted to let the community know that according to ODOT rules, when setting up a detour they must detour from state route to state route.
“The reason is for oversized loads,” Ward said. “We don’t know the weight, width and height restrictions on back roads within the county, but we do know that information for state routes, so we have to make detours between them. It takes some real planning to ensure we have a good detour and we have to post about it two weeks in advance. We know locals know great routes around construction, but for those passing through the county they may not.”
Stay with the Record-Herald for more information about this, and other, construction projects with Fayette County
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
