by Eric Marotta
News Leader Editor
Akron -- The first half of the biggest road project in the state will be close to completion by the end of the year, but that doesn't mean there will be a shortage of orange barrels next year.
To mark the beginning of the 2008-09 construction season, officials at the Ohio Department of Transportation's District 4 announced last week projects totaling nearly $700 million were either under way or ready to commence in the coming year.
At a total cost of more than $200 million, the two-phase conversion of Route 8 into a limited-access freeway takes up the lion's share of Summit County's allocation of nearly $350 million in work.
"It's the largest project in the state," said District 4 spokesperson Paula Putnam, adding the "missing link" between Akron and Cleveland mirrors the recently completed reconstruction of Interstate 77 between Akron and Canton.
According to David Nist, area engineer in charge of the project, motorists will soon see hundreds of feet of metal stringers being installed between the piers of three bridges that will connect Route 8 to Interstate 271 in Macedonia.
Two 800-foot bridges, meant to carry northbound and southbound traffic, will link I-271 to an onramp built last year on the west side of Route 8.
A 900-foot causeway will carry northbound Route 8 traffic over southbound lanes to the ramp and the 800-foot northbound bridge.
By the end of the year, the bulk of the work will be completed, Nist said.
That includes construction of a second raised roadbed and bridge over Twinsburg Road.
In upcoming months, traffic on Route 8 will be shifted from the western lanes to the eastern lanes, where motorists will traverse the first, newly completed bridge over Twinsburg Road.
The entire northern half of the project, from just south of Twinsburg Road to the interstate, is scheduled to be completed by July 2010, but Nist said contractors are hoping to have Twinsburg Road reopened by next spring -- ahead of its scheduled fall, 2009 opening.
In all, the northern half of the Route 8 project is expected to cost nearly $110 million.
Meanwhile, the contract for work on the southern half of the Route 8 project, from Route 303 north, will be offered to a contractor in October, according to ODOT.
That work includes reconstruction of the interchange at the Ohio Turnpike, construction of five new bridges and a connector road.
The second phase is expected to cost around $91 million and is expected to be finished in late 2011.
Putnam said contractors have been instructed to keep lane restrictions to off-peak hours whenever possible.
Work on bridges, for example, will be conducted at night. Other than the Route 8 freeway project, other major work either under way or scheduled to commence in Summit County this year includes the following projects.
Route 8 work
* Construction of a new interchange at Route 8 and Seasons Road.
The start date for this $15.1 million project is planned for late fall and completion is planned for late 2009.
* Resurfacing of Route 8 from the southern Cuyahoga Falls corporation line to Stow. The contract for this work is scheduled to be awarded in October.
Work on the estimated $7.3 million project is to be completed in the fall of 2009.
* Reconstruction of Steels Corners Road in Stow from Route 8 to Hudson Drive. The contract for the $5.7 million project is expected to be awarded in October. Completion is scheduled for September 2009.
* Repaving and bridge work on Route 8 in Hudson, Stow and Boston Heights.
The contract is to be awarded in July and completion of the $5.8 million project is scheduled for the summer of 2009.
* A $5.1 million deck overlay of the Route 8 bridge over North Street and the Little Cuyahoga in Akron. Completion is scheduled for the fall.
* A $350,000 sign replacement project to be completed this summer.
Other work
* Road widening and replacement of the railroad bridge over Route 82 in Macedonia.
The $19.7 million project is expected to commence in May and is scheduled to be finished late next year.
* Replacement of the twin bridges on I-271 over the Cuyahoga River.
The $34.7 million project began in 2005 and completion is scheduled for November 2009.
* Resurfacing of Interstate 480 in Twinsburg and Macedonia.
The $3.1 million project is scheduled to start this spring and is expected to be completed this summer.