Delaware County commissioners have approved phase one of the East Powell Road project.
“This is upgrading the section of East Powell Road at the Bale Kenyon intersection that will basically match up to the Gemini project once it’s built,” Chief Deputy Engineer Rob Riley said to commissioners on Monday. “The estimated cost of this project is $1,855,000. The road work will be done between May and October of next year, which will align with the Gemini construction.”
The Gemini project will include extending Gemini Place through the former Polaris Amphitheater, and widening Worthington Road from Powell Road to Africa Road. An IKEA furniture store is planned to open along the extension in 2017.
County Engineer Chris Bauserman has prepared plans, specifications and estimates for the widening of 0.2 miles of two-lane road to three lanes, with a signal at the Bale Kenyon Road intersection, drainage improvements and a shared-use path on the north side of the road.
Riley said a lot of right of way had been purchased for the project, with a few more purchases to go.
Commissioners also approved:
• Amending a resolution that would allow oversize/overweight trucks to be on Wilson Road in Berkshire and Kingston townships without a special hauling permit. Riley said hundreds of permits are issued yearly for trucks exceeding 80,000 pounds. Due to their weight, the trucks are not allowed on Route 36 after they pull into the Pilot or Flying J truck stops. “We require these permits because bridges are the weak link in this system,” Riley said.
• Purchasing the home of George and Margaret Perry to build a detention basin as part of the South Old State Road widening project. The project is 80 percent federally funded.
• Purchasing right of ways from Tracie A. Jenkins for the Home and Steitz road project; Lucinda Bernlohr and Roberta Wolf for the Panhandle Road bridge replacement project. Construction will begin next spring.
• An estoppel certificate that Tartan Fields Golf Club in Dublin continue to maintain a golf cart bridge over Concord Road.
• Returning construction bonds to the Sanctuary at The Lakes and Glen Oak subdivisions on completed work.
• Changing capacity fees for the Maxtown Road Sanitary Pump Station sub-district from a $420 surcharge to $2,000 to open it up to 400 more users.
• A contract with Quality Control Inspection for the regional sewer district in 2016.
After an executive session that was closed to the public, commissioners approved buying additional strips of right of way from Iraj Haghnazari and Mastaneh Malekniazi for the South Old State Road widening; and from the River of Life Assembly of God for the Home and Steitz road project.