Tree project starts on Ohio 7

BRILLIANT - Those who travel Ohio 7 during their morning commutes may want to break the habit of hitting the snooze button, as they can expect delays from a $1.3 million tree removal project that will last into the spring.

Beginning Monday, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)?will shut down the highway in both directions intermittently between 9 a.m. and 5 a.m. each day. The work - part of ODOT's $33 million hillside project prompted by a massive rock slide in March 2011 - is expected to last until March 31.

During times when the highway is shut down, motorists also will be unable to enter Ohio 7 north via the entrance ramp at the north end of town.

"Traffic won't be stopped any longer than 15 minutes at any given time," said Adam Lytton, ODOT District 11 project engineer.

The length of time traffic will be allowed to pass in between stoppages will be determined by how long it takes the contractor to prepare each batch of trees for removal, Lytton said. Motorists are urged to use other routes when possible, but those without an alternative should be prepared.

"Plan ahead," Lytton said. "Leave yourself a little bit of extra time if you're going to be traveling through that area."

The tree removal will cover a nearly one mile long stretch of hillside, in preparation for rock removal scheduled to begin later this year with an October 2016 completion date.

So far, much of the hillside work has focused on the area south of Brilliant, near Rush Run, where the worst of the rockslides in 2011 occurred. ODOT chose to begin there because the rockslides north of town are generally easier to control.

The overall project involves moving about 2 million cubic yards of dirt and rock and removal of 46 million gallons of water from an abandoned mine. The water pouring out of that mine was a major reason the hillside often became so unstable, according to ODOT officials.

The project calls for stabilizing the slopes, pavement rehabilitation and construction of a permanent rock catchment area.

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Tree project starts on Ohio 7