WHEELERSBURG — Scioto County has received state and federal funding to award a

$1.2 million project for a three-month widening and resurfacing project on Ohio River Road.

According to Scioto County Engineer Craig Opperman, the county has received funding from the Federal Highway Administration and the Ohio Department of Transportation for its Ohio River Road Improvement Project.

Opperman said 2.88 miles of Ohio River Road will be resurfaced with hot-mix blacktop, along with traffic sign upgrades and longer lasting pavement markings on the entire length of this project. Along with the resurfacing of Ohio River Road, the road improvement project will also include:

• New curbs, gutters and catch basins from the Portsmouth Corporation Limit to Lick Run-Lyra Road, which will provide for minor widening of the road. Existing concrete pavement joints under the pavement will be repaired as required.

• Pavement grinding and improvements to the traffic signal equipment from Lick Run-Lyra Road to State Route 522.

• Milling and grinding at the road between U.S. 52 right-of-way and Ohio River Road; as well as curb and gutter improvements, paving and installing new pavement markings.

• Resurfacing a portion of the road from the limited access right-of-way to the railroad tracks.

“Right now when you drive down that road in the right lane you hit all these catch basins going down through there. This is old 52, and over the years it’s become a county road since they transferred over to the new 52. Some of those catch basins are old and they were starting to fall in. We did some repair work on those earlier this year trying to coax them along until we could get to the point of getting this done,” Opperman said.

Those basins will be moved back about two feet, he said.

The county originally applied for funding in 2008 and was approved in 2009 to begin the project in 2014. The project was moved up to this year due in part to another agency’s $4 million project falling through.

“They had a big project fall out up there and they had to balance their books, and we had this project ready to go,” Opperman said.

The project was awarded to the Shelly Company for their lowest bid in the amount of $1,253,587.65. The company is already working in the area on separate resurfacing projects on U.S. 52 from New Boston to State Route 140, and from State Route 140 to Wheelersburg (also on U.S. 52). Ohio River Road runs parallel to U.S. 52 in Wheelersburg.

Because they are already working nearby, Opperman said it allows for greater work efficiencies and a lower cost.

“The guys that were on the 52 job are starting to finish up concrete-type work there and they’re planning to move those over there (to Ohio River Road) this week. We’ve been working with the utility companies also this past week trying to get utilities relocated; as far as water lines and gas lines. That stuff is pretty much out of the way now,” he said.

The completion date for Ohio River Road is scheduled for Oct. 31.

In the meantime, Opperman advised that traffic will be maintained by at least one lane each way throughout the project, except when joint repair work necessitates a temporary closure.