The New Albany construction zone commuters drove through during the past several years as the state widened Ohio Rt. 161 from four to six lanes could be moving east to Licking County in a few years.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is proposing a $133.5 million project to widen a 15-mile stretch of Rts. 161 and 37 from New Albany to Granville and to make improvements at interchanges along that corridor.
ODOT will hold an open house to provide more details and take feedback from area residents on Wednesday, Oct. 22. The informational gathering will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. that day at Johnstown Elementary School, 200 Leafy Dell Road in Johnstown.
In a separate project, ODOT also is proposing to widen the same four-lane roadway to six lanes through Granville. (It’s all the same roadway, but that section of the highway is designated as Ohio Rt. 16.)
Construction of additional lanes from New Albany to Granville is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2029, pending the availability of funding.
A project to rebuild bridges on Rt. 16 in Granville during the past two years included a third lane in each direction on those bridges for future use – but those lanes will not be striped or open for traffic until third lanes are added in the future. No timeline or funding has been set for that project.
For more details, see the ODOT website: http://www.transportation.ohio.gov/projects/projects/117878
Comments about the project can be submitted in person at the meeting, or by Nov. 21 by filling out a comment form on the project website, or by phone or email at the contact information on the project website. Comments should reference the project number “PID 117878.” Send or call in comments to Ty Thompson, Project Manager, at 740-323-5194, or ty.thompson@dot.ohio.gov, or by mail at ODOT District 5, 9600 Jacksontown Rd, Jacksontown, Ohio 43030.
| Read more: ODOT eyes congestion in Rt. 37 corridor – and looks to widen Rt. 161 and identify a north-south connector to I-70
| Read more: Licking County residents swarm ODOT open house for details of possible connector between I-70 and Rt. 161/37/16
ODOT says the purpose of the Rt. 161 widening project is to improve traffic flow, and that without it, “increased traffic-volume projections (out to 2048) show major delays will occur at interchanges” and along the Rt. 161/37 corridor. The department said in a release that another reason for the project is to support economic development.
Specifically, an ODOT feasibility study resulted in a proposal to add a third lane in each direction in the median of the freeway from Blacklick Creek in Franklin County to just west of the Rts. 37/16 interchange in Granville and to resurface the pavement.
It would also bring changes to interchanges, including at Rt. 161 and Mink Street, which would be redesigned and include widening of the bridge over Mink Street. And ODOT is considering options for improving traffic flow at Rt. 161 and Beech Road, and at Rt. 161 and Rt. 37 near Alexandria.
Improvements at the intersection of Rts. 161 and 310, and Rts. 37 and 16 will be done in separate projects in the future, the ODOT release said.