US 33 Upgrades in Ohio

[Bitmapped]

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

That timeline seems unlikely. There's no funding programmed for construction, only for engineering and design.

[Plutonic Panda]

Pardon my ignorance but does US-33 connect with SH-33 in Oklahoma?

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Pardon my ignorance but does US-33 connect with SH-33 in Oklahoma?

Via I-33 through Memphis.

[TempoNick]

Can anybody estimate a timetable on this? If the engineering work is being done, I'm guessing there is money in the pipeline. Is West Virginia on board with this? Is this going to involve another bridge?

[Bitmapped]

Can anybody estimate a timetable on this? If the engineering work is being done, I'm guessing there is money in the pipeline. Is West Virginia on board with this? Is this going to involve another bridge?

There's not construction money allocated at this time. They have to come back to TRAC again for that.

West Virginia isn't doing anything. This is an Ohio-only project.

[TempoNick]

Can anybody estimate a timetable on this? If the engineering work is being done, I'm guessing there is money in the pipeline. Is West Virginia on board with this? Is this going to involve another bridge?

There's not construction money allocated at this time. They have to come back to TRAC again for that.

West Virginia isn't doing anything. This is an Ohio-only project.

So four lanes are going to dead end at the river? Are you sure there isn't money coming through that infrastructure bill? It doesn't seem like you would do the engineering work if construction isn't imminent.

[seicer]

There is nothing programmed either in a study or something more tangible. Four lanes will become two for a 45 MPH bridge that loops into Ravenswood. The bridge is 40 or so years old and still has a good 40 years or more of life left. It's not going anywhere.

As a comparison, the US 52 bridge in West Huntington, WV connects two four-lane highways and has worked just fine for 55 years.

[carbaugh2]

I agree with everyone that there is nothing on the ODOT website indicating there is funding for 2025 construction. However, the reporter had quotes from an Athens County Commissioner and the District 10 public information officer. That date isn't making the article without one of those two people sharing that information and giving the go ahead to share it.

[TempoNick]

I forget how much the contract was, but you just don't spend 30 million dollars on plans to build something just to sit on the Shelf so you can use them 50 years from now..

[GCrites]

I know a lot of big projects in Ohio have switched to Design-Build but clearly not all.

[TempoNick]

"The council approved $6.04 million for preliminary engineering and detailed designed activities to widen U.S. 33 in Athens and Meigs counties.

According to the application, ODOT will convert 25.57 miles from a two-lane highway to a four-lane, divided highway.

...

The project's construction total estimated cost is $191.73 million.

ODOT expects to start construction in 2025."

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

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I forget how much the contract was, but you just don't spend 30 million dollars on plans to build something just to sit on the Shelf so you can use them 50 years from now..

Yes we do (in Ohio)
http://www.roadfan.com/i73ohio.html

[TempoNick]

Yes we do (in Ohio)
http://www.roadfan.com/i73ohio.html

I don't think they actually had any detailed engineering drawings for I-73 though. But that begs another question. I think four-laning US 33 is the right move, but it seems like US 23 should be the one getting all the love. US 23 should be a much higher priority, shouldn't it? Or is this one of those Appalachian corridor things?

For that matter, you would think six laning I-71 between Mount Sterling and Jeffersonville would also be higher priority than a US 33 fix.

[carbaugh2]

I think US 33 is on the fast track because it is much closer to being shovel ready. All of the ROW was purchased 20 years ago when the Super-2 was built. While I think there are spots where ODOT should be doing piecemeal upgrades to 23 (South Bloomfield and the 665/317 intersection for starters), there are projects now in the pipeline (Ohio 762 and Rathmell) that indicate ODOT is trying to free up 23's flow south of Columbus. As we have exhaustively discussed in other threads, the Worthington to Waldo segment of 23 is a herculean task.

With regards to finishing the 6-lane expansion of I-71 across the state, it appears that ODOT has its own separate funding bucket (federal monies, maybe?) for that work as it has been slowly expanding 71 from Cleveland and Cincinnati towards Columbus over the last 20 years. My guess is that ODOT will continue making/expanding its way down 71 to Jeffersonville once the current construction project is complete because that has become the established precedent. I can't wait for those funds to be freed up so they can begin doing the same thing to I-70.

[seicer]

ODOT never produced detailed plans for I-73 in Ohio and it was never offered up as a serious consideration because of political and funding constraints. It has never been on any long-range plans by ODOT, nor has it been on any TRAC list. The I-73 project is mere fantasy. ODOT has committed to several US 23 upgrades, including a bypass of South Bloomfield (which later got shelved), an interchange at OH 762, a slight revamp of the I-270 south interchange (removing two loop ramps), and now piecemeal upgrades north of I-270. (A brochure and a self-referenced paper does not count; the rest of that site is unreadable with that background image.)

Widening 25 miles of US 33, on the other hand, has actual commitments. It's on TRAC's Tier II list for planning/development. https://www.dot.state.oh.us/trac/2022TRACApplications/D10_01_ATH_MEG_33_TRAC_APP.pdf

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

ODOT never produced detailed plans for I-73 in Ohio and it was never offered up as a serious consideration because of political and funding constraints. It has never been on any long-range plans by ODOT, nor has it been on any TRAC list.

Correct.
I-73 was put under the auspices of the Ohio Turnpike Commission by then Gov. Voinovich.
https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C1011734
I mean, it wasn't complete fantasy. Ohioans (or maybe just turnpike users) paid for these maps:
http://www.roadfan.com/i73awf5.html (I see OH 823 on here)
http://www.roadfan.com/i73awf4.html
http://www.roadfan.com/i73awf3.html (the Central Ohio section that has flummoxed everyone for 30 years now)
http://www.roadfan.com/i73awf2.html
http://www.roadfan.com/i73awf1.html

[seicer]

Not a complete fantasy, but a project that never gathered traction for a lot of reasons. ODOT began prioritizing improving its existing network rather than building out new terrain alignments. As an example you listed, the OH 823 bypass could have been part of I-73 but ODOT saw it more as a bypass of Portsmouth rather than as a component of I-73. It has one-lane ramps at its terminuses and if this were to ever become part of an interstate, those would need to be rebuilt. Given how difficult it was just to get the bypass built in the first place, and its modest traffic counts, that doesn't seem like it will ever be a priority. The bypass serves its original purpose quite well: removing through traffic from Portsmouth and New Boston.

And for US 23 south of Columbus, improving the highway towards Chillicothe would be a decent investment. Heck, just getting shoulders added would be huge, as would removing driveways and rebuilding the awful roadway base. But so little is programmed that the highway seems to be a forgotten stepchild.

We also have to consider that the project is dead in the water in both West Virginia and Michigan. The West Virginia segments are not being built to interstate standards and include intersections. The segments north of Bluefield are also two-lane on a four-lane right of way. Those "I-73/I-74 High Priority Corridor" signs are pretty much meaningless.

[TempoNick]

We also have to consider that the project is dead in the water in both West Virginia and Michigan. The West Virginia segments are not being built to interstate standards and include intersections. The segments north of Bluefield are also two-lane on a four-lane right of way. Those "I-73/I-74 High Priority Corridor" signs are pretty much meaningless.

My understanding is that it's only dead in Michigan because it's dead in Ohio. No need to build an I-73 that goes to nowhere. If Ohio ever resurrects it, Michigan they say will do the same. I don't think Michigan has a lot of work to do. Most of that route seems to be in place.

[SkyPesos]

I don't think Michigan has a lot of work to do. Most of that route seems to be in place.

US 223 isn't a freeway.

[Molandfreak]

I don't think Michigan has a lot of work to do. Most of that route seems to be in place.

US 223 isn't a freeway.

Not that there would be a point, but just to play devil's advocate, Michigan could just put I-73 on US 23 and I-94 or I-96 to US 127.

[GCrites]

ODOT has committed to several US 23 upgrades, including a bypass of South Bloomfield (which later got shelved), *snip*

Did this ever get engineered or is it just an idea? A lot of people in the vicinity are curious. A middle turn lane through town and right turn lanes onto OH-316 would make a significant difference if it doesn't happen.

[seicer]

I distinctly recall seeing plans that showed a northerly and southerly interchange to tie onto old US 23 and an interchange at OH 752 and OH 316 on the east side of town. It seemed to be ODOT's preferred alignment.

[GCrites]

I've seen that somewhere too. I suppose I meant fully engineered or something close to it. Maybe it was going to be Design-Build anyway.

[vtk]

I'm pretty sure I once saw a graphic about the South Bloomfield bypass in the technical-plot-on-aerial-orthophoto style once. (I wish they'd do that more often for newer projects...) I don't remember interchange details, so either it was an at-grade realignment (which would help a lot, as long as access is controlled on the bypass) or the interchange(s) hadn't been engineered yet.

Edit: Wait, this is the US 33 thread. Why are we talking about South Bloomfield here? We have a thread for US 23 in Ohio; it's called "I-73 updates?"

[seicer]

At least it's not just my memory that's not yet failing 😬