Contractors for the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Highland County Engineer’s Office have begun preliminary site work for an intersection improvement project on Prospect Road and state Route 73 in Highland County; however, the start date for roadway construction and the closure of S.R. 73 has been postponed one week due to ongoing utility relocation efforts.
Although S.R 73 was to be closed next week, it is now scheduled to be closed Monday, March 19, pending completion of the remaining utility work. Once construction begins, S.R. 73 will be closed immediately north of Prospect Road, and through-traffic motorists will be detoured by way of S.R. 785 and S.R. 247. As Prospect Road will remain open during this initial phase of construction, motorists will be able to cross S.R. 73 as well as turn left or south onto S.R. 73 from westbound Prospect Road.
Following this, the closure on S.R. 73 will be extended south of the intersection with Prospect Road, closing the intersection and a portion of Prospect Road for up to 90 days. Although the schedule will be contingent upon the weather, start of construction and other construction-related matters, it is anticipated that this closure will go into effect in early April.
The total project includes widening nearly five miles of East Prospect Road, between S.R. 73 and S.R. 124, replacing culverts, correcting horizontal and vertical curves, upgrading drainage along the county road, as well as improving a half-mile section of S.R. 73 at Prospect Road to increase sight distance at the routes’ intersection.
DGM, Inc. of Beaver, Ohio was awarded a contract for approximately $5.39 million to reconstruct Prospect Road, and although most major construction should be completed this year, the entire project is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2019.