Actually the Hocking Valley Scenic Railroad runs from Nelsonville to Logan.

...

Given the funding shortage facing ODOT, it makes it even more of a shame for these woodlands to be sacrificed for a highway project that may be greatly delayed or not happen at all.  But it's also a good reason to be looking at a commuter rail line in the busy US-33 corridor. A commuter line with frequent enough service can reduce the need for creating more highway capacity by reducing traffic on US-33.

That's very good.  One of the big arguments for the Nelsonville bypass is so that commuters in Nelsonville, Logan, and especially Athens can get to the high paying jobs in Columbus.  Now I wonder if they go to downtown Columbus or to OSU or the shopping districts?  hmm

From the 1/13/07 Zanesville Times Recorder:

 

Connector estimate soars to $76.2 million

Original projection for U.S. 22-Ohio 93/U.S. 40 link was $17 million

By GI SMITH

Staff Writer

 

ZANESVILLE - Tension levels during Friday's Transportation Improvement District board meeting rose just slightly compared to the rocketing estimated cost of the U.S. 22-Ohio 93/ U.S. 40 connector road project.  Shortly after Tom Poorman and Tom Lyall were re-elected as the board's chairman and vice chairman, respectively, M*E Companies senior project manager Jim Brenneman began his update on the now $76.2 million connector road project, which is slated to break ground in 2010.

 

Brenneman explained that the survey work and the geotechnical drillings have been completed and results have been sent to the Ohio Department of Transportation for study and recommendations. He said once ODOT returns recommendations to M*E Companies, work can resume on Stage 1 plans, which include engineering the road's path and other specifics of the project.

 

Full story at http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070113/NEWS01/701130304/1002/rss01

 

From the 2/10/07 Zanesville Times Recorder:

 

Connector road cost could drop $4.4M

By GI SMITH

Staff Writer

 

ZANESVILLE - If the Ohio Department of Transportation's latest construction cost inflation forecast takes an accurate temperature of the inflation climate in 2010, the cost of the U.S. 22-Ohio 93/U.S. 40 connector road is going to cost about $4.4 million less than was predicted a few weeks ago.

 

Jim Brenneman, senior project manager for M*E Companies, sent word to Port Authority Director Jerry Nolder this week detailing the possible price cut, which drop the cost to nearly $53.8 million in terms of 2010 dollars, excluding the cost of designing it, right-of-way purchases and construction engineering. The total cost is still roughly $71.1 million, in 2010 terms.

 

Full story at http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070210/NEWS01/702100303/1002/rss01

 

Strickland not committing to bypass

GABRIELLE JOHNSTON

Athens Messenger

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

 

NELSONVILLE - Gov. Ted Strickland isn't committing to a timetable for the completion of the Nelsonville bypass.

 

Budget concerns are forcing the governor to look closely at projects around the state, particularly costly construction projects. Without revealing too much of his planned budget, Strickland answered questions at a news conference in Columbus on Monday about planned highway construction around the state, including the Nelsonville bypass.

 

"There's not enough money to do all we want to do," Strickland admitted.  While decrying the practice of political finger-pointing, Strickland said the "inherited situation" left to him by the previous administration has effectively tied his hands on budget matters.  "A lot of commitments were made," the governor said of the previous administration.  "We find ourselves with fewer resources to do what needs to be done."

 

Full article: http://www.athensmessenger.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=273&ArticleID=2867

Well, US 33 should be sufficient for now. The highway through the town was reconstructed in continuously-reinforced concrete to bear the heavy truck and traffic burden, and new signals were installed. Curbs, sidewalks, etc. were replaced as well.

Hopefully this will help advance the discussion of an Athens-Columbus commuter rail line. If the reason for building a highway bypass was to create more capacity for heavy traffic in the US 33 corridor, it stands to reason that a good deal of that capacity enhancement could be achieved by upgrading the rail line (including rebuilding it between Athens and Nelsonville) to take some of that traffic off of the existing highway.

^i'm ignorant, but is there actually discussion for athens-cbus commuter rail?

There were a few articles in the Athens News about one of the Athens County Commissioners (Theisen?) wanting to explore the feasibility of an Athens to Columbus commuter line. I was also at a meeting in Columbus where this was brought up and that a private entrepreneur was looking into starting a service. All that discussion was at the beginning of the year though.

 

I would think this type of service would have some merit given the light freight traffic. This line would also seem to provide the economic benefits the region is wanting to gain by the US 33 expansion projects. While I never heard a mention of possible funding mechanisms, but I would think this could fall under the Governor's Office of Appalachia, since they do provide funds for infrastructure projects. To me it just makes sense that to provide economic benefit to a region, the transport system should directly connect to some of the economic centers like Lancaster, Nelsonville, Athens not go around them.

The funding possibilities for such a commuter line could also fall under programs for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) or possibly CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation & Air Qaulity) funding programs. 

 

The biggest hurdles are:

 

1. re-building the rail from Athens to Nelsonville

2. Rehabbing the existing rail between Nelsonville and Logan (which would also benefit freight and the Hocking Valley Scenic Railroad.

3. Upgrading safety at grade crossings along the entire line.

4. Figuring out where and how to get across the Norfolk Southern Main Line on Columbus' south end.  The two tracks cross at grade currently and the NS hasn't exactly been cooperative with the current freight railroad on the "Logan Line".  The trains would also have to get permission from the CSX railroad to run through their Parsons Avenue Yard and rial lines into downtown.

5. Where to stop in downtown Columbus:  actually, the old T&OC Railroad depot on West Broad Street stand very near to the CSX rail line.  That might be an option.

 

None of the solution are cheap, but one has to frame project like this in terms of whether it is an investment that could have a good return: reduce congestion, help attract new business along the line and create new jobs.  I think it would do that and more.

From ThisWeek Canal Winchester, 1/18/07:

 

 

Overpass overlooked for state funding

Thursday, January 18, 2007

By ROBERT PASCHEN

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

The village may have to wait until at least 2014 before state money is available to construct a High Street-Bowen Road overpass at U.S. Route 33.

 

The Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) recently released its draft list of major new road projects throughout the state that will receive funding in the 2008-13 period. 

 

In September, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission had named the High-Bowen overpass the second most important new road project in a seven-county area of central Ohio.  According to information provided by MORPC, rights of way purchases and construction costs for a High-Bowen overpass were estimated at $19.9-million.

 

More: http://www.thisweeknews.com/index.php?sec=canalwinchester&story=sites/thisweeknews/011807/CanalWinchester/News/011807-News-291415.html

 

Okay.... how is that a highway project can get "back on track"??? I'd rather see a commuter train "back on track" between Athens & Columbus.

 

 

Back on track?

Budget bill could mean good news for bypass

RICHARD HECK

Special to the Athens Messenger

Thursday, March 29, 2007

 

NELSONVILLE - The Nelsonville Route 33 bypass project may be back on schedule.  On Wednesday, the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate agreed on the state's newest transportation budget, which included language protecting the original timeline for the Nelsonville project.

 

In December, Ohio's Transportation Review Advisory Council announced that because of a shortage of funds, phases of the Nelsonville bypass would be delayed.  The group's draft plan called for the project to be completed in 2017, instead of 2012.

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation reported that increasing costs for highway projects forced funding priorities to be changed on major projects, thus delaying the Nelsonville work.  The project would construct a new four-lane Route 33 highway from Haydenville to Doanville, going north of Nelsonville.

 

More: http://www.athensmessenger.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=273&ArticleID=3004

Proposal could have put bypass back on track

Athens Messenger

CASEY S. ELLIOTT, Staff Writer

Thursday, August 16, 2007

 

NELSONVILLE - A proposed change in the state budget by Gov. Ted Strickland earlier this year that could have moved the Nelsonville bypass project back to its original schedule did not make it through the Ohio Legislature's version of the budget.

 

The state budget, which came out in its finalized version at the end of June, did not include a recalculation proposal for Ohio Department of Transportation road construction projects that Strickland sought to have in the budget. If Strickland's recalculation had made it in, it is possible the bypass would have been put back on its original timeline.

 

Rep. Dan Dodd of the 91st House District, which includes Hocking and Perry Counties, said the recalculation provision would have required ODOT's Transportation Review Advisory Council to reconsider the prioritization of highway construction projects. As part of that, it would have to consider economic development impact with equal weight as congestion or safety factors. If that had been the case, it is likely the bypass would not have been delayed, he said.

 

However, the budget that came out of the House and Senate did not contain this requirement. Instead, it indicated that Tier 1 projects (such as the bypass) must all be completed before Tier 2 projects (ones that are of a lower priority.)

 

More: http://www.athensmessenger.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=273&ArticleID=4917&TM=43958.73

Well, US 33 should be sufficient for now. The highway through the town was reconstructed in continuously-reinforced concrete to bear the heavy truck and traffic burden, and new signals were installed. Curbs, sidewalks, etc. were replaced as well.

 

FYI, ODOT does not use continuously-reinforced concrete pavement anymore...was it just the road mesh?

No, now that I think of it, it was rebar at close intervals. What would that be called?

 

Mesh = continuously-reinforced? The terminology confuses me often.

No idea where to place this...

Also see: http://www.rossplanningandbuilding.com/

 

Western Avenue should be widened

Updated thoroughfare plan provides guidance for development

By Loren Genson, Chillicothe Gazette, November 16, 2007

 

# Highest - Widening Western Avenue/U.S. 50

# High - Adding a northbound turn lane on Bridge Street

# High - Continuing Ohio 207 connector from U.S. 23 to Ohio 159 at the intersection of Ohio 180.

# Intermediate - Full interchange with U.S. 23 to Seney and Marietta roads

# Intermediate - Delano Road upgrade

# Low - Full interchange at U.S. 23 and U.S. 35

# Low - Massieville Road to Three Locks Road Connector

 

Widening Western Avenue and U.S. 50 was the highest priority for the Ross County Thoroughfare Plan Committee...

 

Time can't erase horror of Silver Bridge collapse

By Jean Tarbett Hardiman, Herald-Dispatch, December 8, 2007

 

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. -- Some were there, some were nearby and others were off living their lives on Dec. 15, 1967, just before sundown at 5 o'clock. But all their lives were marked forever.

 

Residents of Mason County, W.Va., and Gallia County, Ohio, lost dozens of friends and loved ones that night. Loss, of course, was the most tragic and immediate impact after the collapse of the Silver Bridge, which occurred 40 years ago next Saturday. A fractured eyebar that helped suspend the bridge caused the nearly 1,800-foot structure to collapse into the Ohio River.

That is just nuts.

Here is my writeup on the demolished span and its lackluster replacement that opened along with portions of the U.S. Route 35 freeway.

 

And some images... I really need to do more digging at their library.

 

 

 

 

Survivor recalls plunge from SIlver Bridge into the river

By Jake Stump, Daily Mail, December 14, 2007

 

Truck driver William Edmondson was hauling 35,000 pounds of tire fabric on his usual run back to Detroit on Dec. 15, 1967.

 

Coming from Winston-Salem, N.C., Edmondson would cross the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant two or three times a week.

 

The suspension bridge, which connected Point Pleasant and Kanauga, Ohio, was built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint.

URL contains photographs and link to names of the deceased.

 

Charleston Gazette's December 16, 1967 account --

http://wvgazette.com/media/silverbridge.pdf

 

Audio slideshow --

http://media.cnpapers.com/silvershow

 

Silver Bridge 40 years later

By Tara Tuckwiller, Sunday Gazette-Mail, December 16, 2007

 

Ten days before Christmas, in 1967, Glenna Mae Taylor had already taken a little leave from her job as a schoolteacher.

 

Her baby was due in less than three weeks.

 

It was the Taylors’ first baby. The young couple had already set up their Christmas tree. They had placed the baby’s new crib beneath it.

I would argue for combined interchanges to replace the four traffic signals near Chesapeake that frequently clog traffic, which is outlined here. But money...

 

Traffic study could get local Ohio projects funded more quickly

By David E. Malloy, Herald-Dispatch, March 24, 2008

 

BURLINGTON, Ohio — A traffic and safety study for U.S. 52 and Ohio 7 could help get some projects funded quicker, several local officials said Friday.

 

The Huntington-based KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission prepared the traffic and safety study, which has been forwarded to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Railroad bridge approaching century of service

By G. Sam Piatt, Portsmouth Daily Times, October 16, 2008

 

SCIOTOVILLE -- It's been a part of the Ohio River scene on the upper end of Sciotoville for 91 years, so hardly anyone pays any attention nowadays to the big black railroad bridge that carries the CSX coal trains out of Kentucky and on toward Lake Erie.

 

Yet the C&O Northern Railroad Bridge, called an engineering marvel when it was completed in 1917, still has the distinction of being the longest continuous truss railroad bridge ever built.

^ that's a cool bridge.

Yes, to actually see it up close is just amazing.

Rt. 33 bypass ready to go… whenever that is

By Nick Claussen, Athens News, September 25, 2008

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will have everything ready to build the Nelsonville bypass by next spring, but there is one small problem: The project has no funding until 2011 at the earliest.  Representatives of ODOT’s District 10 office in Marietta met with the Athens County Commissioners Tuesday to discuss highway projects in the county and answer questions, including one about snow removal on Ohio Rt. 13 and other secondary highways in the county.

 

Saleh El-dabaja, project administrator for ODOT’s District 10, explained during the meeting that the department will have all of the right-of-way for the project purchased by next spring, or the negotiations will be at the point where the construction could begin even if all of the sales were not final yet.  ODOT also will have all of the preliminary planning work completed for the highway project by next spring, El-dabaja said.

 

ODOT Announces Waverly Project

By Wayne Allen, Portsmouth Daily Times, January 25, 2009

 

The Ohio Department Of Transportation (ODOT) has announced a multi-million dollar project for Waverly. The city of Waverly is sponsoring the project to construct the “Waverly South Connector” - a new two-lane roadway connecting U.S. 23 south of the city to S.R. 220 west of the city. The project is currently estimated at more than $14 million.

That is an interesting announcement. I am not aware of the Transportation Review Advisory Council taking any action on this project, yet here it is. Perhaps this is the old project funded with Appalachian Regional Commission funds...

Nelsonville bypass back on track

Project to receive $150 million from federal stimulus

Saturday,  March 28, 2009 - 2:54 AM

By Mary Beth Lane, The Columbus Dispatch

 

Local officials are excited that construction of the Rt. 33 bypass around Nelsonville in Athens County is back on schedule.

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation learned this week that the project, delayed previously by lack of state funding, will receive $150 million in federal stimulus money, enough to complete the $200 million highway.  Construction of the two main phases of the 8.5-mile bypass is expected to begin in May, with estimated completion in 2013, ODOT spokesman David Rose said yesterday.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/03/28/nelsonbypass.ART_ART_03-28-09_B3_5QDCKHT.html?sid=101

Final phases of Rt. 33 bypass get going

Work to start today, thanks to stimulus money

Tuesday,  October 13, 2009 - 3:06 AM

By Randy Ludlow, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Workers have been moving dirt near Nelsonville for a couple of years now, but Gov. Ted Strickland is scheduled to turn a significant shovelful for the Rt. 33 bypass this morning.  The 8.5-mile, four-lane bypass is projected to cost about $200 million, with federal funds covering $150 million.  Without the federal money, work on the remaining phases of the bypass would not have started until at least 2015, state officials say.

 

The first phase, started in 2007, consisted of grading and earthwork north of Nelsonville.  Added to the Lancaster bypass that opened in 2005, the project will make Rt. 33 a four-lane highway between Columbus and Athens.  The Ohio Department of Transportation projects that the highway will open in July 2013.

 

Graphic: Construction phases

 

Full story at http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/10/13/copy/33.ART_ART_10-13-09_A1_BEFBU0N.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Finally! Nelsonville is a real bottleneck, although I don't see business really suffering. Those who visit Nelsonville visit the town because of its venues and unique stores, not because it is on a major highway.

Bypass begins second phase

Elizabeth Lundblad, City Senior Writer

4/1/2010 -11:50:00 PM 

 

Those traveling north of Nelsonville near the end of April might hear the rumble of falling rock as blasting begins on Phase II of an 8-mile, four-lane portion of U.S. Route 33 that will bypass the city.  Dynamite blasts will remove large portions of rock from the project site so workers can construct the four-lane highway, said David Rose, public information officer for district 10 of the Ohio Department of Transportation.  Currently, U.S. Route 33 passes through Nelsonville as a two-lane road.

 

Phase II and III of the bypass were funded with $150 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, making it the single largest stimulus investment in the state, Rose said.  Phase I was financed with $22 million in state funds, he added.  All work on Phase I was completed in August 2009, but that phase will not be closed officially until May 2010 when the department signs all of the final documents.

 

The entire bypass is set to be completed July 31, 2013, which will mark the end of the U.S. 33 Corridor Project in southeast Ohio, according to a department news release.

 

Full article: http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=31138

GROVEPORT-TO-CARROLL STRETCH

Limiting access to Rt. 33 isn't ODOT priority

Sunday, January 16, 2011

By Mary Beth Lane

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Commuters who drive from southeastern Ohio to Columbus dream of the day when Rt. 33 becomes a limited-access highway without traffic lights.  They'll have to hold on to that dream.  It's not going to happen soon.

 

Plans are on hold for removing Rt. 33's traffic lights at Winchester Road/High Street in Carroll and at Pickerington Road in Violet Township, as well as for building interchanges with on/off ramps.  The Ohio Department of Transportation still plans to build the interchanges, but it has not set aside the funding, officials said.

 

The interchanges are not in the top tier of projects chosen by ODOT's Transportation Review Advisory Council for immediate funding.  The delay stalls progress toward converting 12 miles of Rt. 33, from Hamilton Road in Franklin County to Carroll in Fairfield County near the Lancaster bypass, to a limited-access highway.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/16/copy/limiting-access-to-rt--33-isnt-odot-priority.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Nelsonville bypass to open in 2 stages

Sunday, January 16, 2011

By Mary Beth Lane

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The Rt. 33 bypass around Nelsonville in Athens County is scheduled to open in July 2013, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.  One leg of the 8.5-mile bypass is scheduled to open sooner, in summer 2012, said spokesman David Rose.  That 3.16-mile stretch extends from the Rt. 595/Haydenville area west of Nelsonville to Dorr Run Road.

 

The project has received $150 million in federal stimulus money, helping to push construction forward.  Previously, state transportation officials had said that they were short of money and the bypass would not be finished until 2016 or 2017.  Transportation planners have been talking about building a Nelsonville bypass for at least 30 years.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/16/copy/nelsonville-bypass-to-open-in-2-stages.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

The delay stalls progress toward converting 12 miles of Rt. 33, from Hamilton Road in Franklin County to Carroll in Fairfield County near the Lancaster bypass, to a limited-access highway.

 

Technically, ODOT classifies it as a limited-access highway, given that access is restricted to the interchanges and intersections provided, and none of them are private driveway entrances. What they should clarify, is that it is programmed to go from a limited-access four-lane highway to a limited-access four-lane expressway with no at-grade intersections.

KYOVA to host public meeting on Ohio River bridge study

• Project details: https://ohioriverbridgecrossing.com/

This is for a new bridge connecting State Route 7 in Ohio with State Route 193 in West Virginia, providing an effective bypass of the region for through traffic. You can see how the new bridge will connect here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/gT1u99qd3nXbpwYR8

 

"A project that proposes a bridge over the Ohio River northeast of Huntington, a concept first introduced in the 1960s, continues to make progress today.

Chris Chiles, executive director of the KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission, said the project is still in the early stages with the final report for its planning and environmental linkages (PEL) study to be submitted this summer. Before it is finalized, the public will have the chance to learn what the study found, hear more about the proposed bridge crossing and provide comments.

KYOVA will host the public informational meeting for the Ohio River Bridge PEL study from 4:30-6 p.m. March 18, at 400 3rd Ave. in Huntington. The meeting will be in an open format, with a brief presentation at 5:15 p.m."

A bridge to bypass on the way to...Crown City?