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BETHESDA -- A long-standing issue in the village will be rectified soon, with an expected improvement to a busy intersection.
Belmont County Port Authority Director Larry Merry, also a member of the Transportation Improvement District, said the intersection of Belmont County Road 26 and Ohio 147 has long posed a problem for larger vehicles. But earlier this month, the state approved $3.5 million for investment, and the realignment was one of the 10 TID projects selected from across the state.
"The TID was able to purchase a little bit of property to realign and do a realignment there in Bethesda," he said. "It is going to improve how trucks, buses and trucks and trailers can navigate that intersection, so we're very tickled and excited that we were able to put this project together and hopefully in the next year get those improvements made."
He said the property measures less than an acre but has been a problem due to where it is situated.
"The property owner did us a favor and demoed the building, so we bought an empty piece of property," Merry said.
He said the property is offset and the owner could not use the parking lot due to larger vehicles cutting across it, so a barrier was placed there to drive around.
"Our hopes are we'll use part of the property and the remainder of the property, the TID will then transfer the remaining property to the village for Bethesda's use," Merry said.
"There's a barrier there, and it was hard for trucks to make the turn, even if they were coming on 147, especially going west. It was hard to do that without going left of center to make the turn, and then if you were going south on (Belmont) 26, it made it tough to make the turn to go out towards Barnesville. So we're improving it for truck, buses," he said. "Cars didn't really have an issue, but anything that had much length to it, you basically had to swing left of center."
Merry said the intersection is highly traveled, and the traffic may have been one reason this project was approved for funding.
"It'll be a major improvement for the residences and businesses that are there," he said.
"We've got to get the final plans drawn and of course get them approved by (the Ohio Department of Transportation) with the fact that we'll be working on a state route, so I doubt if the construction will happen this year. We're going to work towards that, but I venture to say it'll probably be next spring and summer that that project's actually completed."
He said the total project cost may be about $320,000, with the state providing $225,000 and the TID supplying the rest.
"It's the state and local government working together to correct an issue that has been there forever," he said.
Merry also commended the commissioners for providing initial funding for the TID.
"Without the commissioners' support of us doing this, this project wouldn't be happening," he said. "They allowed us to keep that money and use it for these type of projects.
"The village of Bethesda is I think looking forward to the project," Merry said. "When we put our grant in, a lot of the businesses in the area, we asked them for letters. Trucking companies, the oil and gas companies, Union Local (School District) wrote a letter for us because it was hard for school buses to go south and get through that intersection, too."
He said many businesses that are part of the industrial park on the east side of Barnesville also wrote letters to the state about the necessity of this project.
Bethesda Village Administrator Dirk Davis did not comment on the situation but credited Mayor Samantha Burkhead for her work in helping secure the grant. Burkhead was out of the area Friday but texted a statement.
"The village of Bethesda is grateful to the Belmont County Commissioners and Belmont County TID for all the hard work they put into making this happen for us," she wrote.
Joel Braido, who had owned the property in question for about 20 years, said the intersection had been a source of problems.
"I kept that pole in place because the trucks would tear up my parking. They did that regularly, especially after the gas and oil. Rather than continuing to replace the pole regularly, I revamped it to where they couldn't hurt it. It preserved the integrity of my property, and if they hit the pole they came in second, because the pole didn't move and it wasn't going to move, and it won't move until somebody takes it out," he said. "I had to put that pole in, and I had to reinforce that pole in order to keep my parking lot."
He said this was chiefly a matter for the county and Bethesda.
"There's always been a pole at that four-way stop. The county got interested in developing western Belmont County and they felt that pole at the four-way stop encumbered that area," he said. "No one ever pressed the issue to take that pole out, however the county was able to secure grant funding to widen that intersection and have that building and pole taken out. ... We're happy this is moving forward. This has been a point of contention they've been considering for the past three years."
Commissioner J.P. Dutton, also a member of the TID board, agreed that the improvements will benefit the village and drivers that must navigate the intersection.
"I just think it's been a long-standing issue there in terms of larger vehicles navigating that intersection. The application was supported by several entities," he said.