SR 16 – SR 541 interchange project moving along
Beaver Excavating from Canton is the prime contractor for the State Route 16 – State Route 541 Interchange project, which is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 29, 2020. Contributed | Beacon
COSHOCTON – By this time next year, Coshocton will have a brand new entrance to town.
The State Route 16 – State Route 541 Interchange project is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 29, 2020. The original completion date was July 31, 2020, but it was moved due to additional structural repairs that need to be made to the Three Rivers Bridge.
Morgan Overbey, public information officer for ODOT District Five, said the contractor is currently working to finish bridge parapets, lighting and roadway on SR 541, as well as full depth pavement replacement on SR 16 and the ramps on the south side of the interchange.
“Hopefully by the end of this construction season, we will have SR 541 with some paving leftover on SR 16, bridge beam painting on Three Rivers Bridge, and some clean-up around the project,” she said. “When the eastbound roadway, bridges and ramps on SR 541 are open, the intersections at the ramps will be signalized and traffic will be back to normal configuration on SR 541. The contractor will finish SR 16 eastbound outside lanes and then work on completing full depth pavement construction on the inside lanes in both direction.”
Pedestrians also will see some changes.
“The previous walkway was 5’-10” down SR 541 to North Whitewoman Street,” Overbey said. “The new walkway on SR 541 will be 8’-0” wide. There will be an area on either side of the road that will have a sitting area with benches. There will be added brick walks on North Whitewoman and updated handicapped ramps.”
Special touches will be added to make the improvements unique to Coshocton.
“‘COSHOCTON’ will be attached to the vandal fence over SR 16 so that the name of the town will be visible to motorists approaching from either direction,” Overbey said. “Passersby can already see some of the decorative railing, lighting and concrete that was completed during the construction of phase one. The stained and stamped concrete were designed to mimic the old sandstone blocks used for the locks in the area. The contractor had to mimic the color of the sandstone blocks near the Roscoe Village Visitor’s Center for the bridge. The city and Roscoe Village also picked out the brick sidewalk colors and the lighting to match the downtown light poles. Phase two will basically be a mirror image of phase one.”
Funding for the project is a mix of federal and state transportation funds. Total project cost at this time is $18,274,140.
“The project is still on-going, so there could be additional costs that come up due to change orders or additional costs,” Overbey said. “District preservation funds and repurposed federal earmarks were used to fund the project. The district preservation funds accounted for $14,186,199 and the repurposed federal earmarks accounted for $4,087,941.”
Beaver Excavating from Canton is the prime contractor for this project.
Category: People & Places
