Why the large Ohio 747 road project started early, and what it means for this year

The Butler County engineer’s office says it is a little early for orange barrels to come out, but they have started on the Ohio 747 widening project because there are so many projects planned for this year.

There are almost 80 construction projects slated to start this year, and the engineer’s office and various townships will spend about $26 million on the improvements. The first to get underway is the $7 million widening of Ohio 747 to five lanes in Liberty Twp. Work started last Monday on the one-mile span between Princeton and Millikin roads.

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The road won’t be shut down for the project, and two lanes of traffic will be maintained at all times with the exception of a three-day weekend closure for a culvert replacement, which will be announced when dates are determined. Completion should be mid-September.

The project was supposed to start late last summer, but utility relocation was problematic. Engineer’s spokesman Chris Petrocy said their work schedule has been moved up this year because of the number of improvements.

“Usually we target March, but we have a lot of pretty big projects coming up this year and in 2019, and in 2020 and in 2021,” he said. “The idea is to try and crank these out, get these moving.”

The next major project on the list is the roundabout at Beckett and Smith roads in West Chester Twp. The county commissioners approved a $996,090 contract — what was estimated — for that work on Thursday. Petrocy said there is a pre-construction meeting scheduled for Tuesday, and they will know better then when work will begin.

That intersection will be shut down throughout the project, which is expected to last until mid-June. Petrocy said he’ll be sending out information with suggested detour routes when they have a finalized schedule.

MORE: Ohio 747 widening to get underway

Likely the biggest road project for the year gets underway this summer with the widening of Cincinnati Dayton Road to four lanes from West Chester Road to Interstate 75. This $7 million project will stretch over two construction seasons.

“This is one of those (projects) people are going to want to find alternate routes,” Petrocy said.

The final phase on the Yankee Road improvement that gave drivers headaches last year will resume in mid-March. Yankee will once again be closed off.

Liberty Twp. Trustee Christine Matacic said that when an area is in growth mode — the township has quadrupled in size over two decades — orange barrels come with the territory.

“For the next five to seven years you’re going to see orange barrels all over Liberty Twp.,” she said. “That’s one of the disadvantages of growing as we have. There’s road improvements that need to be made and as we continue to grow we’re going to have to address those issues. Whether it’s (this construction season) going to be worse than normal, I don’t know what normal is anymore.”

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