There has been talk of the U.S. Route 33 Nelsonville bypass for decades, and now it’s finally time to hit the pavement — in more than one way.
The Doctors Hospital of Nelsonville, Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and the Ohio Department of Transportation will host a run, walk and bike event on the recently completed bypass.
There are already more than 500 registered participants, which is a testament to the race’s “once in a lifetime” nature, said Tara Gilts, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Athens County and an organizer of the event.
“I think people want to celebrate the completion of the bypass,” Gilts said. “It’s a project that they’ve been working on for a number of years and a lot of people have been directly affected by it.”
The $200 million project has been in the works for the past six years and is expected to shorten drive times to Athens by about 20 to 30 minutes, according to a previous Post article.
This spring, ODOT officials expected to complete the bypass by the end of July, but heavy summer rain pushed the completion date back to Oct. 1, spokesman David Rose said in a previous Post article.
The highway slices through Wayne National Forest, which Noah Watkins, another event organizer, said will make for a scenic morning for runners and cyclists.
“People want to see (the bypass) before it opens up,” Watkins said. “It’s a really beautiful view up there. It’s a gorgeous view.”
Although Watkins has heard talk of the bypass potentially hurting the Nelsonville economy, the Nelsonville-York High School teacher said the race is a cause for optimism.
“(The race) shows the way people in Nelsonville can take something people view as a negative and make it a positive,” Watkins said. “More people won’t be stuck in traffic in Nelsonville which … Nelsonville gets a bad reputation for that.”
sh335311@ohiou.edu
@SamuelHHoward
