Yes, VTK. I got it wrong in the title - OH 852 is basically the Perkins Bridge connector that I drive all the time and had on my mind at the moment of writing.
As for the bypass, it's not intended for Portsmouth residents. US 23 was one of the first corridors in the state to be four-laned very early on, and it served what was a bustling industrial area that's almost all gone. A lot of traffic from US 23 south goes to US 52 east towards Interstate 64 and vice-versa.
Right now, the only "bypass" is through Rosemont Hill, which isn't suitable for trucks.
From an article earlier this year:
"What the discussion was, right now the bypass is estimated to cost $500 million to construct. They (ODOT) have about $120 million in a savings account for construction of this road. They’re adding about $20 million a year."
"The idea is that they (ODOT) would hire a construction company to design, build and maintain this road for about a 35-year period,. In return for doing this, the company would receive an annual payment for that service. The bypass is only 16 miles, the thought was that’s not going to be enough for a company to set up an operation to maintain 16 miles of roadway. So, what the state is considering, is to give this private company the responsibility of maintaining not only the bypass, but also maintaining all state and U.S. Highways within the county."
The last sentence was something I was not aware of.
"Also on the flyer is a section about the key PPP (Public, Private Partnership) benefits. Those include accelerating delivery of project and benefits by eight years, leveraging $120 million Appalachian Development Highway System funds, deferring project payments until construction is complete, freeing ODOT budget capacity to deliver other near-term projects and maximizing schedule and pricing certainty."
http://tinyurl.com/kymx67g--
Then this:
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/news/JandTPlanDocs/072213-PRESSRELEASE-Cen-SEOhio-Districts569and10.pdf"Kasich’s plan uses money from the Ohio Turnpike to help build many new projects in northern Ohio and will allow many other projects to proceed much earlier than anticipated. Other central and southeast Ohio projects getting Kasich’s green light include:
* Building a new highway bypassing the city of Portsmouth in Scioto County ($440 million and project will remain on scheduled to begin as early as 2014)"
