Road crews removing hazardous hills

0

UNION TOWNSHIP — Construction of almost a ½-mile of totally new roadway in the area where Gurneyville and North Curry Roads intersect is now complete, and the result for motorists is a safer stretch of road.

The project involved removing three hills, widening the pavement, improving the sight distance at the intersection, and improving ditches and side slope.

During a multi-year period, this segment of roadway had seen a higher than expected number of crashes, and consequently became eligible for federal funds to make safety improvements.

This summer’s road construction on Gurneyville is one of three such safety improvement projects that Clinton County has received grants to do in the next several years.

The cost of construction for this project was covered 80 percent through federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds, while the remaining 20 percent was paid for with a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission.

To make this stretch of road safer, the existing roadway was entirely taken out and construction crews “started from scratch” to build a new roadway, said Clinton County Deputy Engineer Adam Fricke.

This re-make encompassed about 2,100 feet on Gurneyville and 400 feet on North Curry Roads.

The county applied for the federal dollars five years ago, said Clinton County Engineer Jeffrey B. Linkous.

“We put in for it, told them what our plan was to correct the sight distance problem, got ranked and approved back then, and the last three or four years we’ve been doing some preliminary work,” Linkous said.

The construction work took about three months, from mid-July to Oct. 11.

Next year, there also will be a roadway safety improvement project in Clinton County. It will involve removing two hills, widening the pavement, improving a curve, and improving ditches and side slopes for more than 2,100 feet of Farmers Road, just north of State Route 350.

The construction is scheduled for late summer 2017. The estimated construction cost of this project is $682,000 of which 80 percent will be paid for with federal HSIP funds.

A third such safety improvement project in Clinton County will be to Antioch Road, just north of the Highland County line.

This project will involve removing a hill, widening the pavement, improving a curve, and improving ditches and side slopes for 1,500 feet of Antioch Road in Green Township. The estimated construction cost is $806,400, of which 80 percent will be covered by federal HSIP dollars.

Construction is scheduled for summer 2021.

Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.

Hills were smoothed out on Gurneyville Road, along with other design changes, to make this section near the North Curry Road intersection safer. The photo shows the project in its late stage.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2016/11/web1_after_p_f.jpgHills were smoothed out on Gurneyville Road, along with other design changes, to make this section near the North Curry Road intersection safer. The photo shows the project in its late stage.

A section of Gurneyville Road was entirely taken out in order to accomplish safety improvement goals. This photo shows the same section of road as the other photo accompanying the article, except this photo is of an earlier phase of the project.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2016/11/web1_during_p_f.jpgA section of Gurneyville Road was entirely taken out in order to accomplish safety improvement goals. This photo shows the same section of road as the other photo accompanying the article, except this photo is of an earlier phase of the project.
Gurneyville Road 1st of 3 safety projects

By Gary Huffenberger

[email protected]

No posts to display