Bridge Options

A new bridge which would be built imme­di­ately next to the exist­ing bridge, or one angling across the River toward Farnsworth Road are just two of three options the Ohio Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion is con­sid­er­ing for the replace­ment of the Water­ville Bridge.

The other option would be to replace the bridge at it’s cur­rent posi­tion, but that option would require the shut-down of State Route 64 over the river for at least a year, pos­si­bly even longer.

These plans and other ideas will be tossed about at ODOT’s bridge-replacement pub­lic meet­ing from 4 to 6 p.m. Thurs­day in the Com­mu­nity Room at Water­ville Pri­mary School.

ODOT plans to replace the bridge, built in 1948, start­ing in 2017 at a cost of $18 mil­lion to $21 mil­lion.

The exist­ing bridge is con­sid­ered obso­lete because of its nar­row lanes and truss design.