The East State St and U.S. 33 interchange will become the home of Ohio’s second diverging diamond interchange.
After recent crashes and hours of congestion at the East State Street and U.S. Route 33 interchange, local and state officials have decided that a $5.75 million project to improve conditions is the best option on the table.
The project is aimed at “increasing capacity” for the intersection, said Mayor Paul Wiehl.
Currently, East State Street — a high-traffic, business-filled area — goes from a whopping five lanes to two, which officials have said is the main safety concern.
“It’s a victim of it’s own success,” Wiehl said.
City Engineer and Director of Public Works Andy Stone echoed those sentiments, adding that “there’s just not enough space” for the main artery’s vehicular traffic.
“We’re looking to decrease the number of crashes that happen in the vicinity,” Stone said. “A lot of them are contributed to congestion.”
Improvements to the area would include installing a “diverging diamond intersection” — which would “create safer movement” for drivers traversing the interchange while “squeezing more traffic through in a short amount of time,” Stone said.
There is only one other diverging diamond intersection in Ohio, which is at a similar interchange in Columbus, he added. That type of intersection will add additional stop lights and more closely controlled traffic patterns.
A $142,000 safety study, funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation, showed this type of intersection to be the most logical fit for Athens.
“It just happened to be that the diverging diamond intersection is the best alternative because it reduces congestion and increases safety,” said David Rose, an ODOT spokesman.
“The diverging diamond intersection is the best solution at this point.”
Though Wiehl said the project isn’t projected to take place until at least 2016 — and as late as 2019 — he said the “idea is to have a plan” now. Funding is not yet secured.
Plans also include adding a sidewalk to the south side of East State Street as well as repaving the road in addition to the construction of the rarely implemented intersection.
@emilybohatch
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