Old 32 to close for road repairs, paving – 

By Patricia Beech – 

Residents living along a five-mile stretch of old State Route 32 will need to add an extra 10 minutes to their daily commute time while the highway undergoes much-needed repairs and resurfacing.
Before paving, highway road construction crews will focus on repairing three separate sites where heavy rainfall caused the ground beneath the road to slip, according to Adams County Engineer David Hook.
Work at the three sites – located at Wisecup Hill, the Twin Bridges at Lawshe Road, and at Dotson Road – began Monday, Feb. 26 and is expected to be completed by the end of May.
“As long as everything goes as planned, we should be done on schedule, hopefully at or under budget,” Hook said. “It will be inconvenient for a few months, but after we’re done it should be really nice
During the three month project, traffic will be detoured to nearby roadways to accommodate construction activity.
Motorists will use Marble Furnace and Cemetery Road as detours for the Wisecup Hill site, at the twin bridges site traffic will be detoured to Lawshe Road and Shelby Road, and at the third site drivers will be detoured to Big Run Road and Dotson Road.
The Allen Stone Company has been contracted to do the work, under the direction of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)
Old State Rte. 32, now known as County Road 100, is designated as a Federal Major Collector Route, and is therefore eligible for emergency funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
According to Hook, the FHWA funds covered 80 percent of the project’s total estimated cost of $1.91 million. Seventy-five percent of the remaining 20 percent ($433,000) was picked up by the Ohio Department of Transportation, leaving the county to come up with $110,000 to complete the project.
Hook, who is accustomed to working on a shoestring budget, went back to ODOT.
“I told them that we just didn’t have the money to do the project,” he said, adding, “District 9 really went to bat for us, and agreed to pick up the entire balance.”
Once repairs are completed, road crews will begin resurfacing the highway from State Rte. 136 in Winchester to State Rt4. 41 in Peebles.
The current estimated cost of the paving project is $2,282,000.
Through their County Surface Transportation Program, the FHWA picked up 80 percent of the costs, amounting to $1,814,000.
To cover the remaining balance of $468,000, Hook applied for and received a $300,000 grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission, leaving the county to pay only $168,000 of the total project cost, which exceeded $4 million.
Other tentative projects on the county engineer’s 2018 agenda include bridge repairs, road repairs, maintenance and upkeep, with grant funding covering most of the costs.
The Federal/State Bridge Program will provide $950,000 to repair bridges on Bentonville Road and old State Rte. 32, with a $50,000 contribution from the County Engineer’s office.
The Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) will provide $205,000 to fund repairs on two Island Creek Road bridges, with a $175,000 contribution from the County Engineer’s office.
Additionally, Hook’s office will spend $100,000 for bridge maintenance and repairs across the county.
The Ohio Public Works Commission will provide $255,000 for resurfacing Island Creek Road and Roush Hill Road, with an additional $220,000 provided by the engineer’s office.
The FHWA, ODOT, and the Ohio Emergency Management Administration (OEMA) will provide $2.14 million for slope stabilization on old State Rte. 32 and on Pumpkin Ridge Road.
The FHWA County Surface Transportation Program, in conjunction with an OPWC Program will provide $2.11 million to resurface old State Rte. 32 and Tri-county road, with the Engineer’s office contributing $170,000.
The Federal Highway Administration’s Safety Program will provide $490,000 along with $15,000 from the Engineer’s office for guardrail installation, pavement marking, and curve studies.
Hook says his department will further spend $250,000 for pavement preservation, $100,000 for pavement leveling and repair contracts, $150,000 for pavement maintenance, and $80,000 for Brown Hill Road slope stabilization.