US 33 Upgrades in Ohio

[GCrites]

Both Allen Road intersections (known colloquially but not officially as Allen Rd. #1 and Allen Rd. #2) with US-33 in Fairfield County are getting RIRO'ed next week: https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/about-us/news/district-5/odot-improving-safety-at-us33-intersection

Impatient drivers currently lose their minds when forced to slow down for eastbound left-turning drivers and spin into road rage when now the right lane is going faster than them.

[vtk]

Which is #1 and which is #2?

The median crossings are already closed, as of this morning. The one closer to Columbus has already had some pavement removed.

[GCrites]

#1 is to the NW and #2 is SE if I remember right from the online town hall meetings. Of course it used to be all one road before the section SW of the freeway was abandoned and turned into farm access. Not sure when that was -- maybe when 33 was dualized around 1955.

[carbaugh2]

I made a trip to Athens last weekend and noticed that signs were replaced between the Lancaster and Nelsonville bypasses. The county and township roads were changed from numbers to the given names. In addition, mileage tabs have been added to the interchanges.

Ohio 180- 166
Ohio 664- 170
Ohio 93- 172
Ohio 328- 174
Ohio 595- 177

[The Ghostbuster]

Do all the exits along the US 33 corridor now have exit numbers? Or are there still some exits that are still unnumbered?

[GCrites]

I made a trip to Athens last weekend and noticed that signs were replaced between the Lancaster and Nelsonville bypasses. The county and township roads were changed from numbers to the given names. In addition, mileage tabs have been added to the interchanges.

Ohio 180- 166
Ohio 664- 170
Ohio 93- 172
Ohio 328- 174
Ohio 595- 177

I'm sure there's places in Ohio where locals use township and county road numbers instead of names in speech but I haven't heard of it personally.

[GCrites]

Do I remember seeing new Distracted Driving Corridor signs up just east of the Rockbridge rest area? Trying to remember if it was there or right before the OH 277 exit on US 23 north of Chillicothe. Maybe both.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I made a trip to Athens last weekend and noticed that signs were replaced between the Lancaster and Nelsonville bypasses. The county and township roads were changed from numbers to the given names. In addition, mileage tabs have been added to the interchanges.

Ohio 180- 166
Ohio 664- 170
Ohio 93- 172
Ohio 328- 174
Ohio 595- 177

I'm sure there's places in Ohio where locals use township and county road numbers instead of names in speech but I haven't heard of it personally.

Come visit me in Morrow County then.

[carbaugh2]

Rather than quote twice, I'll just post responses to the last few posts.

My experience is that using county/township highway numbers is more prevalent in the northwest quadrant of the state. Then Holmes County jumped to the front of my mind.

The distracted driving corridor (referenced twice now) begins where the Nelsonville bypass reconnects to the divided 33 south of town. Based on the 17 mile length, that would put the other end of the corridor by the Darwin rest area.

[GCrites]

I knew about the Nelsonville one. In the past 6 weeks I saw a new one (to me at least) but can't remember where. It could have even been on I-70 west of Zanesville -- I was just through there on Sunday for the first time in years.

[vtk]

There's one on 161/37/16 in Licking County

[GCrites]

Last did that one about 4 years ago. I don't think there was one there then.

[GCrites]

I was right, there is a Distracted Driving Corridor just north of Chillicothe on US 23. It's only a mile or two long though. The signs are much smaller. They're about the size of a standard speed limit sign.

[seicer]

I was kind of hoping the crap signs on wood posts (something this district loves to use) would have been for truck parking in the abandoned weigh stations. An exit is planned at the location of the closed weigh stations but no date has been programmed for construction.

Regarding the corridor, ODOT has gotten aggressive in closing intersections and making intersection modifications north of Chillicothe towards Columbus for a while now. There is too much high speed traffic on a four-lane with lots of cross traffic.

[GCrites]

They are paving the southbound truck parking now.

[TempoNick]

Please tell me this is off to the side somewhere and not actually how they decided to blend US 33 and US 50 in Athens. A roundabout in the middle of two limited access highways?

"Construction on U.S. 50 to U.S. 33 roundabout nears completion"

https://www.wtap.com/2023/08/01/construction-us-50-us-33-roundabout-nears-completion/?outputType=amp

[tdindy88]

No, it looks like the roundabout is with the ramps from Stimson Avenue onto US 33/50. The article doesn't even mention that because it's terribly written. Not to mention the mentions of "Interstate 33"  and "Interstate 50."

[seicer]

Correct. Nothing on the mainline: https://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/files/ATH-33-50-Stimson%20Signing%20and%20Roundabout%20(High%20Resolution).pdf

This was always a disaster of an interchange. Also - what mile markers do the exit tabs correspond to along US 50 and OH 32? My assumption is US 50.

-

Side note: I just drove much of US 33 south of Columbus a few weeks back. Exit numbers are now up and corresponding to the state mile markers. And at least on the two-lane US 33 segments south of Athens, there are now standard mileposts that correspond to the overall mileage within the state, with the smaller county mile markers still in place. Exit signs at the actual exit are a hit or miss still.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Side note: I just drove much of US 33 south of Columbus a few weeks back. Exit numbers are now up and corresponding to the state mile markers. And at least on the two-lane US 33 segments south of Athens, there are now standard mileposts that correspond to the overall mileage within the state, with the smaller county mile markers still in place. Exit signs at the actual exit are a hit or miss still.

(Going futher off topic)
I saw that ODOT got around to adding exit numbers to US 23 in Marion County (for at least 2 of every 3 signs leading up to an exit)

[seicer]

I saw that too. It's not all consistent like on US 33, either. The blue/brown signs often don't have exit numbers and will still say things like "SECOND EXIT" or "NEXT RIGHT". I'm still waiting for US 52 to get exit numbers in Lawrence County... and for this sign to be rectified after several decades of being incorrect: https://goo.gl/maps/k7oJCzeXn199bnNp6

[Bitmapped]

Correct. Nothing on the mainline: https://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/files/ATH-33-50-Stimson%20Signing%20and%20Roundabout%20(High%20Resolution).pdf

This was always a disaster of an interchange. Also - what mile markers do the exit tabs correspond to along US 50 and OH 32? My assumption is US 50.

US 50 mileage is being used.

[TempoNick]

Correct. Nothing on the mainline: https://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/files/ATH-33-50-Stimson%20Signing%20and%20Roundabout%20(High%20Resolution).pdf

This was always a disaster of an interchange. Also - what mile markers do the exit tabs correspond to along US 50 and OH 32? My assumption is US 50.

US 50 mileage is being used.

Not that this matters, but I wonder why US 33 mileage isn't used. It seems to me that US 33 is the more important highway through Ohio. US 50 is kind of overlooked. Just curious whether they have some kind of protocol they use for deciding what the mileage markers say.

[I-55]

Correct. Nothing on the mainline: https://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/files/ATH-33-50-Stimson%20Signing%20and%20Roundabout%20(High%20Resolution).pdf

This was always a disaster of an interchange. Also - what mile markers do the exit tabs correspond to along US 50 and OH 32? My assumption is US 50.

US 50 mileage is being used.

Not that this matters, but I wonder why US 33 mileage isn't used. It seems to me that US 33 is the more important highway through Ohio. US 50 is kind of overlooked. Just curious whether they have some kind of protocol they use for deciding what the mileage markers say.

US 33's mileage is used over US-50 and OH-32's on the multiplex.

[seicer]

In this case, too, US 50 trumps OH 32 even though OH 32 is the primary route between Belpre and Cincinnati, not US 50.

[carbaugh2]

While researching completion dates for the completion of the original Super 2 from Athens to Darwin and Pomeroy to Ravenswood, I came across this Athens Messenger article stating that District plans to begin widening 33 in 2025. That is much sooner than I had hoped or anticipated.

https://www.athensmessenger.com/news/odot-looking-to-widen-25-miles-of-u-s-33-in-2025/article_4eecef78-dace-11ed-9229-4bc41e34fc25.html

The article also references improvements to the 33/682 interchange in The Plains (not the OU interchange in Athens), where more roundabouts will be constructed at the ramp intersections. I'm all for the roundabouts if it means ODOT will finally close the at grade intersection just west of this interchange. I had never understood why they kept it open until reading the explanation in this article.