That change is weather dependent, Dillon said. After that, the next ramp closures are not expected until summer, when the U.S. 35 eastbound entrance and exit ramps shutdown, Dillon said in an email.
Those closures are tentatively scheduled for mid-July, she said.
“Both existing ramps will be closed for 21 days as the contractor ties the new ramps,” into the highway, Dillon said, noting that the westbound entrance ramp to U.S. 35 may also close for up to seven days during that time.
There are no other ramp closures scheduled at this time, she added.
“The contractor will have 21 days to connect the two new ramps into eastbound U.S. 35,” Dillon said. “After the 21 days, all ramps should be in their final configuration with new traffic signals installed.”
ODOT’s work to realign the interchange — what Riverside officials call a city gateway — is expected to be done by the end of September, Dillon said.
Tens of thousands of vehicles travel daily through the interchange, according to the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. It is located between Beavercreek and Dayton, and Kettering and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, as well as the National Museum for the U.S. Air Force.
An estimated 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles per day pass that interchange — 20,000 to 24,000 on Woodman Drive, and 62,000 to 67,000 on U.S. 35, according to regional planning.
Once the state project is completed, Riverside City Manager Josh Rauch said interchange the improvements will be “a catalyst for helping to continue to drive economic development.”
The interchange is at the southern tip of the Woodman Corridor, the focus of long-range safety upgrades to include the stretch of Harshman along Wright-Patterson to Springfield Street, the exit for the Air Force museum.
The route will cost several million dollars to overhaul. It has a 45-mile-per-hour speed limit, lacks adequate pedestrian paths and an area near Wright-Patt includes a curve where vehicle accidents happen too frequently, according to Riverside records.
Riverside will schedule public forums for residents can “give input on their experiences” along the Woodman corridor, Rauch said.
Comments will also be sought corridor property owners and stakeholders, such as the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority, he added.
Riverside last year received an a $500,000 ODOT grant for the Woodman corridor work. The city has invested about $6.8 million in the corridor, Riverside documents show.
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