All Ohio 48 lanes in Oakwood reopening, but Far Hills repaving closures loom

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

All lanes of Ohio 48 in Oakwood are expected to be open late this week, but that’s just in time for the state to start resurfacing the city’s main thoroughfare next month, resulting in more lane closures.

The impact of Oakwood’s months-long $2.1 million sewer reconstruction between Dayton and Kettering on the state route, also called Far Hills Avenue, is in its final days, city Engineer Chris Kuzma said.

“There will still be some intermittent and minor construction activity, mostly restoration, with the ‘softscape,’ " Kuzma said. “They’re also reconstructing a median at Forrer and Far Hills that was taken out as part of the project for the traffic shift. That should be contained in the median area.”

Oakwood’s section of the state route should be free of lane closures for a few weeks before the Ohio Department of Transportation starts resurfacing, he added.

The start date of that work, the first repaving for Ohio 48 through Oakwood since 2011, remains undecided, according to Loryn Bryson, an ODOT spokeswoman.

But Kuzma said the work, which he expects to last a few weeks weather permitting, will likely involve closing one lane at a time on Far Hills.

“Just like the city, ODOT wants to minimize the (impact of) the construction as much as possible,” he said. “They’re not reconstructing anything.”

“There will be areas where it’s milled up. It’s that rough, grooved pavement. But it should be open and drivable for the most part.”

The estimated $1.75 million project was awarded to Barrett Paving Materials Inc. with the city paying $345,858, Kuzma said.

More details about the resurfacing will be made available as the project start date nears, Bryson said.

Meanwhile, Oakwood’s new sewer lines are installed, Kuzma said. The remaining parts of the project will involve restoration and work on side streets, he said.

Much of the replaced sewer system had been installed before the 1950s on what is now one of the most traveled roads in the Montgomery County suburbs south of Dayton, Oakwood officials have said.

The average number of vehicles using Ohio 48 daily ranges from about 14,700 at Stewart Street in Dayton to more than 41,500 at Interstate 675 in Centerville, ODOT records show.

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