By TODD HELBERG
cnedit@crescent-news.com
Last year Defiance's West High Street connection to U.S. 24 closed for good when a new overpass there became operational.
Monday will be Carpenter Road's turn, when its intersection with the federal route will be severed permanently as work begins on an overpass. Currently, southbound and northbound traffic on Carpenter Road can make right turns only onto U.S. 24.
"We're going to close Carpenter Road next Monday and start working on the abutments and the pier," said Ohio Department of Transportation project engineer Darren Schimmoeller.
Unlike the West High Street overpass, the one at Carpenter Road will go over U.S. 24, meaning only one bridge must be built.
The overpass at West High will take U.S. 24 over that street, so a pair of bridges are needed there. One, for U.S. 24's two new lanes, is complete and in use; the other, for the old two lanes, is under construction.
According to Schimmoeller, the contractor for the Carpenter Road overpass, Miller Brothers Construction of Archbold, began preparing this week for dirt moving operations and will really get into things shortly.
Some dirt was stockpiled at the site during the winter for the overpass' embankment while the remainder will come from a borrow pit at the southeast corner of the intersection.
Schimmoeller said the work has a 120-day closure limit for Carpenter Road. However, he said there are allowances for "weather and consolidation of the embankment they are building."
If the 120-day limit is met, the overpass could be completed and in use for Carpenter Road traffic by September.
The overpass project is just one component of Miller Brothers' $49.5 million contract to widen U.S. 24 from Carpenter Road to Napoleon.
Crews are also beginning to remove shoulder pavement on the old lanes of U.S. 24 between here and Napoleon, Schimmoeller said. Those two lanes will be rehabbed before a final new layer of pavement is laid.
Last year, Miller Brothers built a new interchange at Domersville Road as well as two new lanes between Defiance and Napoleon. Those lanes are now being used, but will receive a final layer of pavement before the project concludes by the Nov. 15 project completion deadline.
In addition, Miller Brothers will be building a new stretch of pavement south of U.S. 24 that will connect Adams Ridge Road and Jewell Road. Adams Ridge's intersection with U.S. 24 was terminated in the winter.
North of U.S. 24, Adams Ridge will be closed off with a cul-de-sac. Just south of U.S. 24, Adams Ridge will be diverted northeast to run parallel with the federal route for about a half mile before connecting to Jewell Road.
The new Adams Ridge Road/Jewell Road connection will be very close to where Jewell Road intersects U.S. 24.