Ohio’s 1st Stimulus Rail Project Starts Construction
Licking County-State Route 79 Grade Crossing to Close for Construction
(Columbus) – A smoother ride for motorists and the retention of 377 rail-dependent jobs in Licking County are the public benefits of the first of 23 rail-related, federal stimulus-funded construction projects to get underway in Ohio.
The project involves re-surfacing the railroad grade crossing on Licking County-SR 79 between Heath and Hebron. The rail line provides critical service to three businesses…Bayer, Dow and Constar…which employ 377 people at this large industrial park. In all, the industrial park has 1.9-million square feet of occupied space and another 280,000 square feet of available vacant space… all of it rail-served.
Work on the grade crossing begins Friday, September 25, 2009 at 2:30pm and the Southbound lanes of Licking County SR-79 will be closed until Sunday morning.
Motorists need to be aware and alert that road closures will alternate through that weekend, allowing limited traffic flow.
This closure will first involve 3 lanes, consisting of 2 Southbound lanes of SR 79 and 1 turn lane. On Sunday morning at 7:00am, Licking County will switch traffic onto the Southbound lanes and close the Northbound lanes including the turn lane. The turn lane will be included in each closure to allow the contractor ample room for working and welding the new rail sections.
ODOT District 5 personnel will perform traffic control for Winthrow Construction Sunday, September 27, 2009.
(The Ohio Rail Development Commission is an independent agency operating within the Ohio Department of Transportation. ORDC is responsible for economic development through the improvement and expansion of passenger and freight rail services and railroad grade crossing safety. For more information about what ORDC does for Ohio, visit our website at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Rail )
