Image courtesy of the City of Pickerington
A main thoroughfare in Pickerington will receive a facelift later this year.
A $7 million safety and beautification project for State Rt. 256 will begin in late April or early May after the Ohio Department of Transportation awards the contract, and should be completed within seven months.
City officials are asking residents to proceed cautiously and be patient as improvements get underway. Beginning in January, residents and businesses can expect to receive detailed information regarding the $7 million project. City officials have been diligently working on a comprehensive communications plan, including development of informational flyers and a Web page.
The City has also set up a dedicated Rt. 256 project hotline at 614-382-5500 and email address at PavingforProgress@pickerington.net as contact points should residents or businesses have any problems or concerns during the duration of the project. The city website, www.pickerington.net, will also be updated regularly with project information.
Though the construction project will not be easy on residents and businesses, the City will do everything it can to aid motorists, businesses and residents, said Pickerington City Engineer Scott Tourville.
To help ease congestion during rush hours, all existing northbound lanes will be open from 6-9 a.m., and all southbound lanes will be running from 4-7 p.m.
At least one northbound and one southbound lane will be required to be open at all times. Paving work will be performed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Still, the roadwork will disrupt traffic flow, and the timing of traffic signals could increase travel time.
The City will be monitoring traffic and signal timing during construction in an effort to reduce the wait time as much as possible. Tourville encourages residents to allow extra time to get to work or consider taking alternative routes, including Refugee Road or Diley Road.
At some point, the improvement project may also impact driveway access for a few property owners and businesses. The City will be coordinating the work with owners and businesses to try to maintain at least one vehicular access point.
“It is our goal that the closure of access points is very limited in time and nature,” Tourville said.
“We do not anticipate any full roadway closures, and access will be maintained to impacted properties to the fullest extent possible.”
While the road work is bound to be inconvenient for residents, businesses and motorists for about seven months, the corridor, when completed, will serve as the gateway in and out of Pickerington for many decades.
