COLUMBUS, Ohio – Things are going to get better for drivers who use one of central Ohio’s busiest intersections.
But, first, they’re going to get worse.
Columbus City Council Monday night approved a $16.5 Million road project to widen Hard Road between Sawmill and Smoky Row roads on the Northwest Side, according to reports in the Columbus Dispatch and on WBNS 10-TV.
Council members unanimously approved spending approximately $2.2 million in street-rehabilitation funds to help finance the effort. Dublin also will contribute about $2.7 million to the project, and nearly all the remaining money will come from an Ohio Department of Transportation grant, according to the newspaper report.
The project is part of more than $30 million that is being spent to ease traffic issues off of I-270, along a stretch of Sawmill Road to Hard Road, 10-TV reported.
The project will widen Hard Road from two to five lanes, adding turn lanes, new pavement, curbs, sidewalks and new lighting.
The city has already widened portions of Hard Road east of Smoky Row Road to Rt. 315 in an effort to ease congestion, the television station reported.