The completion of one construction project and progress in another will result in big changes next week on I-475/U.S. 23 near Central Avenue in Sylvania Township, the Ohio Department of Transportation says.

Several traffic pattern changes planned to start Sunday night will affect where motorists approaching that interchange need to be if they wish to exit.

The change will be especially important for drivers headed south on U.S. 23 or west on I-475 approaching those two freeways’ junction. Instead of the exit point being right at Central, motorists from those two approaches will need to choose between continuing south on I-475/U.S. 23 or taking the Central exit while they’re still at the junction -- before the two streams of freeway traffic join.

“It’s going to be a dramatic change from what’s out there right now,” Theresa Pollick, an ODOT spokesman in Bowling Green, said Wednesday.

During the transition, nighttime ramp closings ranging in duration from 15 minutes to several hours are likely, including on the ramps within the junction of I-475 and U.S. 23, Ms. Pollick said.

Changing how southbound traffic exits at Central and adding lanes within the freeway junction to reduce congestion were the key goals of a $14.7 million ODOT project now complete except for rerouting the traffic.

The switchover had to wait, Ms. Pollick explained, for a phase change in a separate, $38.9 million reconstruction of the Central interchange itself. That project just started this summer and is scheduled for completion in 2017. 

I-475/U.S. 23 traffic has been pushed over to the right lane and right shoulder past Central and Dorr Street in both directions while new lanes were built in the freeway’s median as part the work at Central.

On Sunday night, Ms. Pollick said, contractor crews will switch northbound I-475/U.S. 23 traffic over to the new lanes and set up a crossover for use by traffic exiting and entering the northbound side at Central. Motorists should be alert for nighttime lane closings and changing patterns along that northbound stretch Sunday night and possibly Monday night too.

After that, probably Monday night into early Tuesday, the changes on the southbound side will start, and they’ll be more complex because of how the exit to Central is being changed. Ms. Pollick said those changes’ exact timing will depend in part on how long the northbound cut-over takes, but overall ODOT has allocated four nights to get everything done.

Separating the two traffic streams -- one heading south on I-475/U.S. 23, the other exiting at Central -- will eliminate the need for any drivers to make quick lane changes to use the exit.

Historically, that weave affected westbound I-475 motorists, who had to cross over from the left lane through the center lane to get to the right lane for the exit, dodging southbound U.S. 23 traffic to do it.

“Eliminating the traffic weave at this interchange and ramp has been a priority for ODOT for years and we are pleased it’s opening to traffic,” said Todd Audet, ODOT’s district deputy director in Bowling Green. “The completion is major step in improving the northwest Ohio Interstate system, and will provide a safe and efficient movement of people and goods across this portion of the Interstate.”

To eliminate the weave, Fremont-based Mosser Construction built a new two-lane roadway through the junction for southbound U.S. 23 traffic, then rebuilt the existing lanes for westbound I-475 and the Central exit.

For motorists wishing to exit at Central, some fundamental advice: stay in the right lane as you approach the I-475/U.S. 23 split.

Along with the ramp realignment, the new layout will provide two lanes of traffic for both southbound U.S. 23 and westbound I-475 through the junction, which should relieve congestion, especially on westbound I-475 during the morning and evening rush hours.

The revamped Central interchange will feature a “single-point” design for its ramps’ intersections with Central. The surface street, part of U.S. 20 and State Rt. 120, will cross a new bridge over the freeway that will be just south of the existing bridge, and the main ramp intersection will be on that bridge.

Central also will have a median wall all the way from Holland-Sylvania Road to McCord Road when the project is finished.

Earthwork for Central’s new alignment is now 90 percent complete and project-related utility relocations are finished, Ms. Pollick said. Major road construction is scheduled to start next spring.

Contact David Patch at: dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.

First Published December 3, 2015, 5:00 a.m.