NEWS

Second phase of Route 250 project to begin Wednesday

Jon Baker
The Times-Reporter

DENNISON ― The final phase of the U.S. Route 250 rehabilitation project east of Dennison is scheduled to start on Wednesday.

This phase will require the closure of Route 250 from Pleasant Valley Road in Tuscarawas County to state Route 151 in Harrison County. Prior to phase two closing, phase one between state Route 800 in Dennison and Pleasant Valley Road will reopen to traffic. The closures will not run concurrently. 

Construction is still ongoing at state Route 250 in Uhricshville.

During phase two, Pleasant Valley Road and Route 151 will remain open at U.S. Route 250. Local traffic only will be permitted to drive through the closure. Local traffic includes emergency services, residents, property owners and businesses located directly within the closure area.

The official detour is Route 800 south to U.S. Route 22 east, Route 22 east back to Route 250, and reverse. An alternate detour route is state Route 39 east to state Route 212 east, Route 212 east to Route 151 east, Route 151 east back to Route 250, and reverse.

The closure has not had a dramatic impact on the operation of Tappan Lake Park and the Tappan, which are operated by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District.

But things have slowed down, according to Adria Bergeron, director of marketing/communications for the MWCD.

"Bait sales are down, and they're definitely seeing a much smaller pace of traffic during the week coming into the marina," she said. "But that could also have something to do with the time of the year."

Weekend traffic at the marina is still decent.

"It seems a little bit slower than normal, but it does seems like on the weekends people who are wanting to specifically come to the lake are finding their way to get there and navigating the detour OK," Bergeron said.

The MWCD has developed its own detour to the marina, using state and county roads.

Initially, the conservancy district was getting some calls from people who were having a hard time getting around, but those calls have decreased, she said.

"We have been taking a very proactive measure to reach out to anyone who has a reservation, either at the campground or a boat reservation at the marina, to touch base with them beforehand to make sure that they're aware that there's a detour in place and have directions to get around it," Bergeron said. "So we've been working really hard to try to best accommodate the guests that are heading our direction."

Construction is still ongoing at state Route 250 in Uhricshville.

The 100-day closure of Route 250 started July 6. This project includes the removal of the 70-year old concrete base pavement and rebuilding the roadway from the dirt up with an aggregate base and topped off with asphalt pavement.

Shelly & Sands, Inc., from Zanesville, is the contractor on this $10.2 million project. The completion date for all work is Oct. 31.