Clermont County has broad slate of 2016 road projects

• Aicholtz Road connector and widening of Old Ohio 74 among county road projects planned for 2016

Although improvements to Ohio 32 may have been among the biggest Clermont County projects in 2015, this year’s slate of projects is possibly even more extensive.

“This is the biggest year we’ve ever had,” said Clermont County Engineer Pat Manger about the projects which are expected to get underway in the coming months.

Some of the bigger projects include:

•The Aicholtz Road connector. This connector will extend from the intersection of Aicholtz Road and Eastgate Boulevard to Mount Carmel and extend an estimated 1.3 miles. This project is budgeted at about $6.25 million.

•Widening of Old Ohio 74 from Armstrong Boulevard to Olive Branch-Stonelick Road. A center turn lane will be added to what is currently a two-lane road extending about three-quarters of a mile. Traffic signal upgrades along this road will also be made in conjunction with the widening. This project is budgeted at about $3.75 million.

•Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road safety improvements starting from Raintree Drive to Indian Haunt Drive. Manger said curves along Wolfpen Pleasant Hill will be softened and that a retaining wall along the hill will be built.

“(This will be) one of our more dramatic improvements,” Manger said. “The before and after will be pretty dramatic.” This project is budgeted at about $3 million.

Rehabilitation of Old State Route 32. This repaving project will extend about 8 miles from the corporation limit of Batavia to the county line. It is a $2 million project.

Manger said $5 million has been budgeted for resurfacing projects. In addition to Old State Route 32, other roads that will resurfaced are:

•Taylor Pike;

•Frank Willis Memorial Road;

•Bethel New Richmond Road;

•Branch Hill Loveland Road;

•Clermontville Laurel Road.

Manger said the budget for Clermont County road resurfacing projects this year is bigger than in previous years. Typically, he said from $1 million to $1.5 million is annually budgeted for resurfacing projects. Funding for this will come from state grants.

“We applied for many of these grants about five years ago,” Manger said, adding that it often takes several years for the projects to eventually be initiated.

Manger said construction on many of these projects is expected to begin in June.

Your turn

Which Clermont County roads are most in need of repair?

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