By Chris Bavender
Construction crews are making progress on a Hamilton County project that will add a connector from 146th Street to southbound Keystone Parkway. A new roundabout has opened at Lowes Way, and other aspects of the major overhaul are on track for a projected June 2019 completion.
“Prior to opening (the new) roundabout, this intersection was signal-controlled and then stop-controlled during construction. Outside of rush hour, this roundabout intersection should provide the public with mostly free-flow movement through the intersection,” said Alison Krupski, bridge program engineer for the Hamilton County Highway Dept. “During rush hour, motorists should see a great reduction in delay at the Lowe’s entrance as they exit off of Keystone Parkway onto Lowes Way. While we are wrapping up Phase 1, motorists should expect small, intermittent delays due to construction traffic.”
In addition to the roundabout, Phase 1 includes two new bridges – one over Cool Creek and one over Keystone Parkway – and a ramp onto southbound Keystone. Phase 2 – which will extend Lowes Way to Range Line Road – is in the design phase and scheduled to start soon after Phase 1 is complete.
“Our goal is to get both bridge decks poured before the end of the construction season this year. Unfortunately, much of the work left cannot be complete in cold temperatures,” Krupski said. “Thankfully, most of the construction that is left is new roadway, so there should be minimal impact to motorists over the winter while everything is shut down.”
Krupski said there have not been many changes construction plans.
“Our engineers did a great job of studying and assessing the area to make sure that this project would be successful,” she said. “The community is very excited about this project. The Hamilton County Commissioners have given many project updates to residents in the past year, and this is always a very popular project.”
