(Cleveland) - A second-straight near-record construction season is underway across Ohio.
This year, the Ohio Department of Transportation will invest $2.3 billion into the state’s roads and bridges, just shy of the record-$2.4 billion investments made in 2014 and 2015.
This construction season will include 1,098 projects, 26 valued at more than $10 million.
Workers will pave 6,945 miles of roadway - enough for a two-lane road from Seattle to Key West, and repair or replace 1,281 bridges.
Major road construction work is getting underway in Medina and Lorain Counties.
Crystal Neelon of ODOT District 3 says in Lorain county there are 14 projects, including work on I-90 bridges, and in Medina County there are 13 projects including work on US 42.
Neelon tells Newsradio WTAM 1100 that $145 million is being spent on road infrastructure work this year in Medina and Lorain Counties.
Safety reportedly a top priority, and this year’s construction program will include 191 projects ranging from reconfigured intersections to additional signage and signals.
“We have seen an increase in the number of traffic deaths in Ohio over the last three years, and we are working hard to reverse this disturbing trend,” says ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning.
Last year, there were 6,041 crashes in work zones resulting in 28 deaths, 186 serious injuries, and 810 minor injuries.
Bruning tells WTAM, the top cause of work zone crashes is following too close, so drivers need to pay extra attention and follow signs and directions in work zones to ensure the safety of workers and motorists.
(Photos by Ken Robinson/WTAM)
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