Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission OKs $233M Budget

Tue April 26, 2022 - Midwest Edition #9
Ohio Turnpike

The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission will invest up to $233 million on toll road modernization, mainline pavement replacement, resurfacing, bridge and other projects in 2022.

As the nine-month construction season begins, it's also an opportunity to remind motorists about driving safely in and around work zones along the 241-mi. Ohio Turnpike or any other roadway under construction.

"Raising awareness of work zone safety on behalf of our roadway crews, contractors and motorists during the construction season is a top priority," said Ferzan Ahmed, executive director of the turnpike commission.

Here's the list of the major projects for 2022:

Toll Collection System Modernization Projects ($76.2 million), include:

Construction of the new mainline Westgate Toll Plaza 4 in Edon, Ohio (Williams County);
Construction of the new mainline Toll Plaza 211 in Newton Falls, Ohio (Trumbull County);
Renovation of the mainline Eastgate Toll Plaza 239 in New Springfield, Ohio (Mahoning County);
Expansion of Toll Plaza 64 (Wood County) and Toll Plaza 152 (Lorain County);
Infrastructure upgrades to install new tolling equipment at 20 interchanges from Toll Plaza 52 to Toll Plaza 209 (Lucas, Wood, Sandusky, Erie, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Summit, Portage and Trumbull counties);
Automatic traffic recorders at nine toll plazas (Williams, Fulton, Trumbull and Mahoning counties);
Weigh-in motion systems at three milepost locations (Ottawa, Lorain and Portage counties); and
New toll collection hardware/equipment installation at 21 existing toll plazas and three new toll plazas.

Construction of the new mainline Westgate Toll Plaza at milepost 3.6 in Edon (Williams County) and the new mainline Toll Plaza at milepost 211 in Newton Falls (Trumbull County) are part of the Ohio Turnpike's new Toll Collection System (TCS), which will modernize and improve the turnpike experience for both passenger car and commercial truck customers.

The new mainline toll plaza at milepost 49 in Swanton, Ohio (Fulton/Lucas counties), which was completed in 2021, is currently being used to test components of the new system. The existing mainline Eastgate Toll Plaza in New Springfield at milepost 239 (Mahoning County) will be renovated to function like the three new mainline toll plazas.

The new construction of Toll Plaza 211 and the toll booth renovations at Toll Plaza 239 will be performed by A.P. O'Horo Company (Youngstown, Ohio). Construction of the new Westgate Toll Plaza at milepost 3.6 will be performed by Action Contractors LLC (Bedford, Ohio).

In addition to the new toll plazas on the mainline, Toll Plaza 64 (Wood County) and Toll Plaza 152 (Lorain County) will both be expanded by the construction of concrete toll islands, toll booths and canopies and other structural work to relieve congestion during periods of high traffic volume.

Mosser Construction Inc. (Fremont, Ohio) will perform the work at Toll Plaza 64 at a cost of $3.8 million; and Action Contractors LLC (Bedford, Ohio) will perform the work at Toll Plaza 152 at a cost of $2.8 million. The work includes electrical, communications and HVAC/mechanical improvements, and related work for the new and existing toll booths, dynamic message signs and TCS integration work.

Twenty interchanges, from Toll Plaza 52 to Toll Plaza 209 (Lucas, Wood, Sandusky, Erie, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Summit, Portage and Trumbull counties), will be upgraded with new tolling equipment, which includes the installation of all new electronic hardware, such as automated toll payment machines, cameras, and cabinets to encase computers, as well as additional electrical and structural work for TCS integration.

Regent Electric Inc. (Toledo, Ohio) and Yates Electric Inc. (Aliquippa, Pa.) will perform the work from April 25, 2022, through February 2023, which also includes minor pavement repairs in the toll lanes following the removal of underground electronic devices and sensors that were used to classify and weigh vehicles. The project will cost more than $10 million, which includes contractor costs, and administration, inspection and testing fees.

Automatic traffic recorders (ATR), which is a camera system that can count and classify traffic along the mainline of the turnpike, are being installed at toll plazas 13, 25, 34 and 39 (Williams and Fulton counties) and toll plazas 215, 216, 218, 232 and 234 (Trumbull and Mahoning counties). Part of the ATR project, which costs $376,050 for the construction the infrastructure components, began in 2021 and will be completed by Perram Electric Inc. (Wadsworth, Ohio) in March 2022 followed by hardware and software installation and system testing.

Weigh-in motion (WIM) systems, which involve pavement sensors to weigh trucks as they are driving at highway speeds and detect and enforce overweight vehicles, are being installed along the turnpike mainline in both eastbound and westbound directions at mileposts 79.8 and 141.1 (Ottawa and Lorain counties, respectively) and westbound at milepost 198.6 (Portage County). The project to install infrastructure components, which costs $3.7 million, began in 2021 and will be completed by Kokosing Construction Company Inc. (Elyria, Ohio) in March 2022 followed by system testing.

Conduent State and Local Solutions Inc. (Germantown, Md.) was awarded the contract for the purchase, implementation and testing of the hardware and software to modernize the toll collection system (TCS), including the installation of the ATR and WIM systems equipment. The new technology will enable gateless low-speed conventional lanes and highway-speed open road tolling. The project began in 2021 and is expected to be completed in spring 2023.

Three mainline pavement replacement projects ($65.7 million), include:

Pavement replacement, new ramps, and construction of the new Westgate Toll Plaza 4 site (Williams County);
Pavement replacement, new ramps, and construction of the new Toll Plaza 211 site (Trumbull County); and
Pavement replacement, new ramps, and renovation of the current Toll Plaza 239 site (Mahoning County).

Construction of the new Westgate Toll Plaza from April 2022 to December 2022 includes full-depth excavation and pavement replacement on the eastbound lanes from milepost 2.9 to 7.26, and new ramps to the new mainline Westgate Toll Plaza at milepost 3.6.

The project will reduce travel in the eastbound direction to one lane while maintaining two lanes westbound in a bi-directional work zone on the westbound side. Construction on the westbound side was completed in 2021.

In 2023, pavement will be replaced from the Ohio/Indiana border to milepost 2.9, which includes the demolition of the current Westgate Toll Plaza.

The Beaver Excavating Company (Canton, Ohio) was awarded a $67.6 million contract in 2020 to complete the three-year project, which also includes the construction of new open road E-ZPass tolling lanes.

Construction of the new Trumbull County Toll Plaza 211 from March 2022 to December 2022 includes full-depth excavation and pavement replacement in the eastbound right and left lanes and outside shoulder from milepost 208.17 to milepost 212.76, and new ramps to the new mainline Toll Plaza 211.

The project will maintain traffic in two lanes in both directions utilizing contra-flow in the westbound direction. Construction on the westbound side was completed in 2021.

The Shelly Company (Twinsburg, Ohio) was awarded a $45.7 million contract in 2020 to complete the two-year project, which also includes the construction of new open road E-ZPass tolling lanes.

Pavement replacement, new ramps, and renovation of the current Toll Plaza 239 from April 2022 to December 2022 includes full-depth excavation and pavement replacement on the westbound side from milepost 241.25 to milepost 236.34, and new ramps to the renovated Eastgate Toll Plaza at milepost 239, which will process tolls on the westbound side when the new Toll Collection System goes live in spring 2023.

This project will maintain two lanes of traffic eastbound into the mainline Eastgate Toll Plaza 239 and reduce westbound travel out of the toll plaza to one lane in a bi-directional work zone. Construction on the eastbound side was completed in 2021.

Shelly & Sands Inc. (North Jackson, Ohio) was awarded a $39.9 million contract in 2020 to complete the three-year project, which also includes the construction of new open road E-ZPass tolling lanes.

Four resurfacing projects, which will remove and replace asphalt, upgrade guardrails and other roadway work ($36.2 million), include:

April 2022 to October 2022: All three lanes and all shoulders in both westbound and eastbound directions from milepost 73.95 to 80.5 (Wood, Ottawa and Sandusky counties). Awarded to The Shelly Company — Northwest Division (Findlay, Ohio) for $14.1 million.
April 2022 to October 2022: The right and center lanes and right shoulder from milepost 178.05 to 185.65 (Summit County) and resurfacing the ramps at Exit 187 (Portage County). Awarded to The Shelly Company – Northeast Division (Twinsburg, Ohio) for $14.7 million.
August 2022 to November 2022: The ramps at Exit 118 (Erie County). Company and cost TBD.
August 2022 to November 2022: The car and truck parking areas at the Great Lakes and Towpath service plazas at milepost 170.1 (Cuyahoga County). Company and cost TBD.

Five bridge projects, which includes widening and deck replacement, removal and repainting of 11 bridges ($31.6 million), include:

April 1, 2022, to Oct. 31, 2023: Widening and deck replacement of the mainline bridges at milepost 40.3 over State Route 109 and milepost 40.5 over the Indiana and Ohio Railway in Pike Township (Fulton County). Awarded to Kokosing Construction Company (Elyria, Ohio) for $11.7 million.
April 1, 2022, to Dec. 3, 2023: Removal of the mainline bridge at milepost 98.9 over abandoned railroad and redecking the mainline bridge at milepost 99.1 over State Route 510 in Riley Township (Sandusky County). Awarded to Kokosing Construction Company (Elyria, Ohio) for $6.2 million.
April 1, 2022, to Oct. 31, 2022: Replacement of the Exit 151 eastbound deceleration ramp bridge at milepost 151.3 and redecking the ramp bridge over Lorain Road at milepost 152.3 in North Ridgeville (Lorain County); and redecking the Jennings Road overhead bridge at milepost 153.9 in Olmsted Township (Cuyahoga County). Awarded to Suburban Maintenance and Construction (North Royalton, Ohio) for $4.3 million.
March 14, 2022, to October 2023: Redecking the East Edgerton Road overhead bridge at milepost 169.6 in Broadview Heights (Cuyahoga County) and replacement of the State Route 21/Brecksville Road bridge at milepost 172.9 in Richfield (Summit County). Awarded to The Great Lakes Construction Co. (Hinckley, Ohio) for $7.5 million.
April 1, 2022, to July 30, 2022: Final paving and the repainting of the mainline bridges at milepost 222.7 over Turner Road and milepost 222.8 over Kirk Road in Austintown Township (Mahoning County). Awarded to The Ruhlin Company (Sharon Center, Ohio) for $1.9 million (budgeted amount remaining to be spent in 2022).

For more information, visit ohioturnpike.org.