The much-anticipated opening of the new road and a roundabout at Hillsboro’s northern corporation limit will take place Thursday, according to Ohio Department of Transportation.
The new extension of Hobart Road, named Carl Smith Drive, will be open to traffic along with a roundabout at its intersection with Careytown Road.
“Roundabouts, which are becoming more widely constructed by ODOT, are an effective intersection control treatment that provide for the added benefit of calming traffic,” ODOT District 9 Deputy Director Vaughn Wilson said. “By limiting vehicle speed, roundabouts typically reduce crash rates and lessen the severity of crashes.”
While the opening of the road has been long-awaited since Highland County Engineer Dean Otworth started discussing it in 2007, the project is ahead of the contract schedule.
Although this is the first roundabout to be constructed in Highland County, it is one of two to be constructed in ODOT District 9 during this year’s construction season. The other roundabout, which was constructed as a part of a grade-separation project over U.S. Route 35 in Jackson County, is located at the intersection of McCarty Lane and Acey Avenue in the city of Jackson, according to ODOT Public Information Officer Kathleen Fuller.
“Motorists who are new to driving through a roundabout will find that its geometry and the splitter islands on each intersecting roadway will help to slow their speed, which is posted at 20 miles per hour,” Fuller said in a news release. “Traffic in the roundabout flows counter-clockwise around the center island, so as drivers enter the roundabout, they will need to look to the left and yield to vehicles already inside the roundabout. Once in the roundabout, drivers will have the right of way, and as they exit from the roundabout, they will flow to the right at the point of departure onto the intersecting roadway.”
Along with the Thursday changes, Hobart Road will be restricted temporarily to one-way westbound traffic from U.S. 62 to its new intersection and the roundabout at Careytown Road. All eastbound Hobart Road traffic from Homestead Avenue to U.S. 62 will be detoured by way of the new extension, or Carl Smith Drive, to SR 73 and Harry Sauner Road or by way of Careytown Road.
In partnership with the Highland County Engineer’s Office, ODOT awarded a contract to the John R. Jurgensen Company of Cincinnati for approximately $6.9 million to improve Hobart Road and construct the extension between U.S. 62 and SR 73. With an interim completion this fall, all work is scheduled to be completed by August 2016.
For additional information on roundabouts, visit ODOT District 9’s web site at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D09/Pages/All%20About%20Roundabouts.aspx.
