PICKERINGTON -- Drivers using State Route 256 to get to Columbus now have more than traffic to battle.
Road work on State Route 256 near Interstate 70 began Friday and will continue through the middle of December, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The $1.85 million project is handled by Shelly and Sands Inc. of Zanesville and serves to make the accident-prone area a bit safer, said Cindy Brown, ODOT District 5 spokeswoman.
''It has been identified as a high congestion area, and what ODOT is trying to do is pinpoint these areas around the state of Ohio and do short-term fixes to alleviate the problem of congestion and reduce accidents in that area,'' Brown said.
Crews will work on the area of State Route 256 between the signal near the Marcus Theater and Farmsbury Road.
The road will be restriped to add an extra lane under I-70 to allow a second straight-through lane for motorists northbound on State Route 256.
Motorists now traveling in the left lane must wait for drivers ahead of them to turn left before they can proceed.
Workers also will reconfigure the I-70 eastbound ramp, Brown said, and will add a signal at the end of the ramp where it joins 256.
Traffic signals between Marcus Theater and Farmsbury Road also will be coordinated to alleviate congestion.
''All those (signals) will be talking to one another, so you don't have a large backup at one and not at the other,'' Brown said.
The work brings a temporary fix to the intersection. A permanent solution will have to wait until more funding becomes available, Brown said.
''It will have to be reworked in the future, but we don't have funding for a project like that,'' she said.
''We will do what we can with the funding we have to alleviate some of the congestion there.''
Brown said ODOT spends $65 million annually on similar safety projects throughout the state.
Traffic will be maintained through the work zone, Brown said, and won't hamper school buses from completing their routes when school starts next week.
Pickerington School District and St. Pius X in Reynoldsburg have buses that use the intersection. School starts Tuesday for Pickerington students and on Thursday for St. Pius students.
''Traffic should not be interrupted that greatly through the area,'' Brown said, adding that some work may be done during night hours.
John Moore, manager of the nearby Barnes and Noble Booksellers store on Hill Road North, hopes the road work will reduce the number of crashes in the area.
''Right there at Tussing Road and 256, at least once a week there's an accident down there,'' he said.
Moore doesn't see the road work as a problem for his business unless it aggravates drivers.
''It just depends on how frustrated people get (with the road work),'' he said. ''I don't know, it's hard to tell. Hopefully it won't impact us too much.''
Road work on State Route 256 near Interstate 70 began Friday and will continue through the middle of December, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The $1.85 million project is handled by Shelly and Sands Inc. of Zanesville and serves to make the accident-prone area a bit safer, said Cindy Brown, ODOT District 5 spokeswoman.
''It has been identified as a high congestion area, and what ODOT is trying to do is pinpoint these areas around the state of Ohio and do short-term fixes to alleviate the problem of congestion and reduce accidents in that area,'' Brown said.
Crews will work on the area of State Route 256 between the signal near the Marcus Theater and Farmsbury Road.
The road will be restriped to add an extra lane under I-70 to allow a second straight-through lane for motorists northbound on State Route 256.
Motorists now traveling in the left lane must wait for drivers ahead of them to turn left before they can proceed.
Workers also will reconfigure the I-70 eastbound ramp, Brown said, and will add a signal at the end of the ramp where it joins 256.
Traffic signals between Marcus Theater and Farmsbury Road also will be coordinated to alleviate congestion.
''All those (signals) will be talking to one another, so you don't have a large backup at one and not at the other,'' Brown said.
The work brings a temporary fix to the intersection. A permanent solution will have to wait until more funding becomes available, Brown said.
''It will have to be reworked in the future, but we don't have funding for a project like that,'' she said.
''We will do what we can with the funding we have to alleviate some of the congestion there.''
Brown said ODOT spends $65 million annually on similar safety projects throughout the state.
Traffic will be maintained through the work zone, Brown said, and won't hamper school buses from completing their routes when school starts next week.
Pickerington School District and St. Pius X in Reynoldsburg have buses that use the intersection. School starts Tuesday for Pickerington students and on Thursday for St. Pius students.
''Traffic should not be interrupted that greatly through the area,'' Brown said, adding that some work may be done during night hours.
John Moore, manager of the nearby Barnes and Noble Booksellers store on Hill Road North, hopes the road work will reduce the number of crashes in the area.
''Right there at Tussing Road and 256, at least once a week there's an accident down there,'' he said.
Moore doesn't see the road work as a problem for his business unless it aggravates drivers.
''It just depends on how frustrated people get (with the road work),'' he said. ''I don't know, it's hard to tell. Hopefully it won't impact us too much.''
