Drivers continue to battle orange barrels in Monroe

Construction work scheduled through June 2011, officials said.

Traffic backs up heading east near New Garver Road on June 22 as construction continues on Ohio 63, crossing Interstate 75.

Linda Weisenborn/Staff photographer Traffic backs up heading east near New Garver Road on June 22 as construction continues on Ohio 63, crossing Interstate 75.

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By Denise Wilson, Staff Writer Updated 1:21 PM Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Ohio Department of Transportation is anticipating completing construction on the Single Point Urban Interchange Ramp on Ohio 63 in Monroe by early 2010.

Work on the SPUI, which began in the spring and is designed to replace the overpass, increase capacity and allow for continuous traffic flow on Ohio 63, is part of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s $98.8 million Interstate 75 widening and reconstruction project that will run from Cincinnati-Dayton Road in Butler County to the Middletown corporate line in Warren County.

The entire project is scheduled to be complete in June 2011, according to ODOT officials.

In Monroe, workers are laying out concrete pavement on the north side of the bridge on Ohio 63, said Liz Lyons, an ODOT public information specialist.

“They have just hung a mono tube that is spanning the width of the bridge from north to south. It’s a big, single tube that is going to hold all the wires and all signals when the traffic signal stuff starts going up,” she said.

Concrete work on the south side of Ohio 63 is scheduled to begin in August, said Sharon Smigielski, an ODOT public information officer.

Work on the SPUI will not be completed by the time the outlet center off Ohio 63, just east of I-75, opens on Aug. 6. That’s due to utility relocation issues, she said.

“The bulk of the work is to be done this construction season. They may have to finish up some things next year,” Smigielski said.

Even though the contractor working on the SPUI had set an unofficial goal of Aug. 1 to complete the work, he only did so to accommodate the opening of Cincinnati Premium Outlets, she said.

On I-75, work will be concentrated on north I-75 between Ohio 129 and Ohio 63 until the end of September, Smigielski said.

“You’ll notice a traffic pattern change with northbound lanes on the southbound side of the interstate,” she said.

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