The final stage of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s ongoing campaign to rebuild I-75 through Toledo starts Monday.
Kokosing Construction Co. holds the state’s $180,253,995.27 contract for the section from South to Glenwood Road in Rossford that includes replacing the DiSalle Bridge.
Lane and ramp closings won’t start right away around DiSalle, but nightly lane closings are planned this week on the southbound side between Wales and Buck roads, and southbound traffic will be narrowed to two lanes full-time over that stretch starting Saturday.
Overall, the project is expected to take about five years to complete. Besides replacing the DiSalle Bridge, Kokosing will overhaul bridges over Glenwood and nearby railroad tracks and realign I-75 between the Maumee River and Wales Road, including rebuilding the Miami Street interchange.
“They’re starting focused on I-75 between Buck Road and Wales Road,” said Rebecca Dangelo, ODOT’s district spokesman in Bowling Green. “They’re widening the shoulders southbound to maintain bi-directional traffic on the southbound lanes while they reconstruct the northbound lanes.”
The traffic shift is expected to start in early July. When that happens, the Buck entrance to northbound I-75 will close until January and the northbound exit to Wales will close for two months.
North of Wales, initial work will mainly be off the freeway where crews will start building embankments for the new alignment. That includes softening a curve between Wales and Miami and shortening a bridge that once spanned a wide railroad yard but now passes over just a handful of tracks.
When the DiSalle’s replacement starts, I-75 traffic also will be maintained, but the South Avenue entrance to southbound I-75 will be closed long-term, likely beginning sometime in July, Ms. Dangelo said.
The ramp closing will cut off all access to southbound I-75 between the Michigan Street/Anthony Wayne Trail entrance and the Maumee River until mid-2020.
The E.S. Wagner Co., meanwhile, is about one year into its $158.6 million contract for the stretch between South and Dorr. It is currently rebuilding the section between South and the Downtown Viaduct and building pier foundations for the viaduct’s replacement.
That project, scheduled for completion in 2022, will require long-term ramp closings at the Trail/Downtown interchange starting next year, along with lane closings on the Trail itself, but two lanes are to be maintained each way on I-75 — at least during peak hours — throughout construction.
First Published June 9, 2019, 10:20 p.m.
