South Old 3C Highway improvements slated for September should only take three weeks to complete.
Delaware County commissioners approved a project agreement on South Old 3C with the Ohio Department of Transportation at its meeting Thursday.
“This is a project we have been developing to resurface South Old 3C just north of Tussic Street into the village of Galena,” chief deputy engineer Robert M. Riley told commissioners. “This project would also widen the existing gravel shoulders, pave those to provide for a safer, more modern roadway section, as well as resurface the village square.”
The nearly $1.64 million project is 80 percent federally funded, with $297,000 to be provided by the county and $31,000 by the village of Galena.
“About two years ago, we applied for and were successful in obtaining a commitment of federal funds that flow through MORPC (the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission),” Riley said.
The section of the road involved is 2.3 miles long. The project will result in the shoulders becoming more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.
“The current pavement width is 20 feet, and when this section of road was built in the 1950s, it was certainly adequate for the 25 cars a day that probably used that road,” Riley said. “Now, there’s about 2,500 cars a day that use that road. Not only are paved shoulders safer for vehicles because it provides some recovery area if you get your wheels out of the travel lane, but it also accommodates bicyclists and pedestrians.”
The current end of the Ohio to Erie Trail is at Wiese Road in Galena, near where 3C goes past Blackhawk Golf Course. The project includes striped bike lanes from that point into the village square, which Riley said will make it safer for bikers going in and out of Galena.
In an email following the meeting, Riley went into more detail.
“The project will extend from just north of Olivero Drive (the new Vinmar Village development) into the Galena village square and include 11-foot travel lanes with 4-foot paved shoulders up to Wiese Road, then 10-foot travel lanes with a 5-foot paved bike lane from Wiese Road into the village (this is doable because of the lower speed limit).”
He said that “South Old 3C will be closed to through traffic (open to local residents) during that time with a posted detour using Big Walnut Road to State Route 3 to Galena Road, or the reverse.”
In other business, commissioners approved selling a 2005 Toyota Sienna “as is” for $1,000 to Sunbury, which the village has already agreed to. Capt. Scott Vance of the county Sheriff’s Office said the minivan was seized by the Drug Task Force in 2007. He said the Drug Task Force has a policy to sell property for about 50 percent of its market value, and that with the repairs needed, the price “is probably more than the vehicle is actually worth.”
