Commissioners approve County Road 16 paving project
COSHOCTON – The Shelly Co., of Thornville, will pave a 4.5-mile stretch of County Road 16, from Coshocton to West Lafayette, starting next week.
The Coshocton County Commissioners on Monday approved and signed a contract with Shelly for $1.6 million, Commissioner Dane Shryock said.
The resurfacing work will stretch from the Coshocton corporate limit on County Road 16, just east of 20th Street, into West Lafayette, at the intersection with Ohio 93, according to County Engineer Fred Wachtel.
The company will begin installing federally approved handicap curb ramps in West Lafayette later this week, Wachtel said. Sidewalk work will follow, with paving likely to begin shortly after Labor Day.
The project will also including striping and limited milling, as well as replacing guardrail and installing a rumble stripe at the center line to warn motorists when they drift to the left, Wachtel said. Work should wrap up by the end of October.
Traffic will be maintained in one lane during the work, he said, by flaggers directing traffic. Motorists should expect slight delays.
“We would strongly encourage people to use other routes while all this is going on,” he said. “Otherwise, they’ll be sitting.”
Most of the project, 80 percent, will be funded by the Federal Highway Administration, but funneled through the state’s County Surface Transportation Program, Wachtel said. The county and West Lafayette will each pay 20 percent.
That will break down to roughly $1.3 million from the federal and state governments, $275,000 from the county and $50,000 from West Lafayette, Wachtel said. The county’s share will come from gasoline and permissive license taxes, he said.
Part of the affected roadway runs through a tiny rectangle of the city’s northeastern corner. Another stretch to the east of that makes up the border of Coshocton and the county. However, the county historically maintains those portions, Wachtel said, and the city will not be paying for any of the work.
“We kind of have an unwritten agreement from that starting point to West Lafayette,” Wachtel said.
“We take care of it like it’s ours.”
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