After a long summer of construction, Chillicothe’s Bridge Street will pause for the holidays and should reopen fully by Nov. 20, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced in details released Nov. 13 and reported by the Chillicothe Gazette.
Drivers will be able to use both the northbound and southbound lanes during the pause, according to the Gazette’s report of ODOT’s announcement. Crews will still be working on smaller projects, including sidewalks and the shared-use path, over the holidays.
Getting there comes with one more week of disruption. Because temperatures must be warmer for paint to be applied and dry properly, crews must paint the temporary lane markings during the day rather than at night, ODOT said in the announcement reported by the Gazette. Beginning at 7 a.m. Nov. 15, crews will prep the concrete and paint lane markings on the new northbound lanes between Riverside Drive and Marietta Road, reducing traffic to a single northbound lane — expect long delays, ODOT warned.
On Nov. 16, crews will continue restriping and hope to have traffic moving in both directions on Bridge Street again by the evening, with delays expected, according to the Gazette. On Nov. 17 and Nov. 18, restriping moves to the stretch from Marietta Road to Chillicothe Mall and Zane Plaza, reducing Bridge Street to one lane in each direction. The goal is to have all lanes in a final configuration for the winter by Nov. 19, including three lanes in both directions.
At the Stewart Road intersection, new traffic signals have not yet been installed, so the intersection will not yet function at an optimal level, according to the announcement. Once all lanes reopen, northbound and southbound traffic will be permitted to turn left from Bridge Street, while all traffic from the Shawnee Square shopping center and Stewart Road must turn right to enter Bridge Street, the Gazette reported. ODOT reminded motorists not to enter signalized intersections until they can safely clear them, since blocking intersections adds delays along the corridor.
The Scioto Valley Guardian also reported Nov. 13 that Bridge Street is on track to reopen in both directions by Monday evening and return to three lanes each way by Thursday, with ODOT warning of major daytime delays during restriping — matching the timeline in ODOT’s announcement.
Work resumes the week after Thanksgiving, when crews will remove the temporary on-ramp to westbound U.S. 35 and install curb, gutter and guardrail; that work is expected to begin Nov. 30 and take three days, according to the Gazette. Intermittent daytime lane closures may be required through mid-December, but no additional full closures are planned, and all work is weather dependent. Additional work will happen in the spring of 2027 — much less disruptive than the last two years — with the project on track to be completed next summer.
Photo: Art Anderson, CC BY-SA 3.0