WOODSFIELD — A long-anticipated improvement project on Monroe County Road 12 will get underway later this spring.

Monroe County Engineer Amy Zwick said the approximately $4.7 million project is finally moving ahead. She said a number of improvements will be made, including cement stabilization and paving of around 10.5 miles of roadway between Graysville and Ohio 800.

“Our crews have been working on culvert replacements, slip repairs, we’ve had a couple of bridge replacements, a lot of things we had to get done prior to,” she said, adding that it is a pretty extensive project for the county to undertake. “Our annual budget is about that (amount) for 372 miles of road, so to do that just for one road is a pretty big deal and it’s taken us several years.”

Zwick said the roadway is heavily traveled and in need of repairs.

“It connects State Route 26 in Graysville to State Route 800 on the other end of it. It’s considered a federal aid route in our county, which typically means it collects more traffic. It connects a state road to a state road and it connects the village of Graysville and goes through Brownsville (township) and all the way over to State Route 800. It has pretty significant traffic compared to a lot of roads,” she said.

Zwick said the project has been delayed due to multiple reasons, including lack of funding, an increase in costs and delays in shipping materials.

“The reason for those high prices was there were cement shortages, there were all kinds of shortages because of COVID that just drove the price up. Fuel was going through the roof at that time, too, I believe, so there were a lot of things that caused that price to be super high. We reevaluated the project and dialed back some of the cement stabilization and cut that out and rebid it,” she said, adding that the latest bid of $4.7 was still higher than the originally anticipated cost.

Zwick said the project is now under contract after being rebid by the Ohio Department of Transportation in December after a previous bid was received that was 55% above the original estimate of $3.9 million. The project was then re-estimated and rebid. She said the county had to contribute additional funds totalling 41% from the engineer’s budget. The remainder is funded through grants and a local match from the county including $2 million through the Country Surface Transportation Program and $400,000 through the Ohio Public Works Commission and the county’s $350,000 allocation.

Zwick said she believes the project will begin in either May or June, depending on the weather.

“It should be done by the fall of this year,” she said, adding that an exact start date is unknown at this time.

After the paving is complete, the engineer’s office will complete the smaller work that includes ditching, shoulder backup and striping.

Zwick said her crews are readying for a “really busy construction season.”