The Ohio Department of Transportation is overseeing the project that will close lanes of traffic from the Oakwood corporation line to East David Road for about three months, Kettering Assistant City Manager Steve Bergstresser said.
Ohio “48 is our main street. We don’t have a Main Street in Kettering. But if you’re going to list our top thoroughfares, it’s the top one or two,” he said.
“It’s a very important corridor — not just for Kettering, but for the south suburbs of Dayton, since it is one of the main roads in and out of downtown Dayton to get to and from the south suburbs,” Bergstresser added.
South of Dayton, the state route runs through Oakwood, Kettering, Centerville and Washington Twp. in Montgomery County.
At David Road in Kettering, Ohio 48 has a daily average traffic count of nearly 26,000 vehicles, ODOT records show.
The average number of vehicles using it daily ranges from about 14,700 at Stewart Street in Dayton to more than 41,500 at Interstate 675 in Centerville, according to ODOT.
The project estimated to cost $1,476,000 will keep at least one lane - and at least one turn lane at signalized intersections – open at all times, Bergstresser said.
It will be “very similar” to the recent Wilmington Pike project, resurfacing one side of the road from end to end and then repeating the process on the other side, he added.
ODOT will cover 80% of the cost with the city funding 20%, Bergstresser said.
Bids for the work are expected to go out next month and be awarded by the end of the year, he said. Resurfacing would likely start in April and be completed by July.
“Once we have bids in from ODOT in November, if a supplemental appropriation is needed to cover the additional costs over what is budgeted, we will approach city council at that time,” Bergstresser told Kettering City Council last week before it approved $295,272 for the work.
That stretch of Ohio 48 was last resurfaced in 2009 and the city seeks to have most-traveled roads repaved every 12-15 years depending on traffic levels and surface conditions, Bergstresser said.
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