BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
To a symphony of squealing brakes and a parade of furrowed brows, the first day of a three-month bridge repair project reduced afternoon rush-hour traffic Thursday on northbound Interstate 275 in Clermont County to a four-mile crawl.
But overall, the $1.5 million Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) project -- which began at 3:30 a.m. Thursday and is expected to be completed Aug. 31 -- began smoothly, road crew supervisor Gary Stercula said.
"It's always tougher on the first day, but it's definitely work that's got to be done," Mr. Stercula, of Akron-based Velotta Co., said as he reconfigured orange barrels on northbound 275. "People just need to slow down, take it easy and watch the car in front of you."
Two lanes are reduced to one in parts of Union and Miami townships as crews work 20 hours a day, six days a week.
The project will include southbound traffic beginning Tuesday. Both directions will be affected through August, ODOT regional spokeswoman Kim Patton said Thursday.
The four sets of bridges under repair are at U.S. 50, the East Fork of the Little Miami River, the U.S. 50 bypass and near Roundbottom Road.
Work on a fifth, at Ohio 32, will begin in July, Ms. Patton said. She said that within ODOT's seven-county district here, the 10 bridges involved in this project "are definitely among the most needing repair."
ODOT doesn't issue alternate routes out of concern that local communities would object, she said.
The 275 slowdown included some tractor-trailer rigs that have been banned from parts of Interstates 71 and 75 in Northern Kentucky. The typical daily traffic count for the 275 corridor at the U.S. 50 bypass is 60,660 vehicles, according to 1994 statistics, the most recent available, Ms. Patton said. "People just need to slow down, take it easy and watch the car in front of you.' -- Gary Stercula, road crew supervisor
