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Allen County road crews have been out on the road since the snow started to fly.
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Among the proposed upgrades are potential roundabouts at the intersections of Cole Street and Bluelick Road, Beery Road, and State Route 115. The plan also includes widening North Cole Street to accommodate increased traffic volume.
One of the bridges on North Union Street in Lima will soon be coming down.
WAPAK ROAD ~ Between STATE ROAD and BILLYMACK ROAD will be CLOSED for bridge repair starting Monday, March 17th thru Friday, March 21st, each day from 8 am to 2:30 pm.
AMANDA TOWNSHIP- Grubb Road just south of State Route 117 has been closed until further notice due to the structural deterioration of a large metal culvert. This structure is located between Fort Amanda Road and State Route 117 in Amanda Township. There will be NO ACCESS during this closure.
Allen County Engineer Brion Rhodes and Allen County Commissioners are working to create the General Drainage Improvement Fund (GDIF), which is designed to be a catalyst for getting these projects done by providing assistance on the front-end of these projects. This discussion is important to Allen County as most Ohio counties do not have such a robust program or need for projects related to drainage. Commissioners are working to understand what a typical project looks like and the amount of funding needed.
It was announced Tuesday that there will be a 34% increase in the amount of paving that will be done across the county. Nearly 20 miles of roadway will be paved with additional 53 miles to be sealed. It has a price tag of 2.7 million dollars generated from motor vehicle gas tax, motor vehicle license plate fees, and the county’s permissive license plate tax. An additional 11 miles of roadway will be paved this spring in a contracted paving project.
The Allen County Engineers Office is still working on quite a few projects that are causing some street closures that will affect motorists. The 1.2-million-dollar Buckeye Road widening project is underway with lane restrictions near Fort Amanda Road. Starting Monday, Buckeye Road between McClain and South Dixie Highway will be closed for approximately 30 days to reconstruct the roadway and railroad crossing.
The main purpose of the change is to improve safety and address a crash trend that has developed at the intersection, according to Allen County Engineer Brion Rhodes. The crash trends usually are a result of either a failure to stop at the stop sign or a failure to yield to cross-traffic that was not required to stop.
The final meeting was held with township, municipal, and county officials to answer questions about the proposal. There will be just over 15 miles of roads to be paved and nearly 60 miles of roads to be sealed this year with a price tag of 2.4 million dollars. The pandemic has caused fuel sales to decrease by 12% leaving funds in a pinch. The permissive license plate fee enacted by commissioners in 2018 did however keep projects moving in 2020.