Flooding Shuts Down I-70 Near Buckeye Lake

BUCKEYE LAKE, OH – Flooding has shut down a portion of Interstate 70 near Buckeye Lake.

Both eastbound and westbound lanes of I-70 near State Route 79 are closed due to high water. By 7:30 Thursday night, flooding had forced all lanes in the area to close. Eastbound traffic is being detoured at State Route 158. Drivers will take U.S. 40 to State Route 13 before getting back onto the interstate.

“We’re detouring traffic. For traffic heading from Zanesville to Columbus on 70 west bound, we are detouring traffic at US 40 which is the exit 142, detouring traffic back there near the Licking Muskingum County line. And having motorists using US 40, and then from US 40, to get all the way around the closure they’ll need to go to State Route 310 and then they can access I-70 west bound from there.” ODOT Regional Public Information Officer, Morgan Eibel said.

This isn’t the first time flooding has caused problems along this stretch of interstate. This marks the third time in the last 10 years that flooding has forced a closure in the area. Crews are monitoring condition as they wait for the water to recede.

“In discussions with the National Weather Service, we kind of had an idea that the water was going to crest. That mean it was going to reach its highest point sometime this morning between 8 and 9 a.m. It’s really hard to tell at this point if the water is starting to recede. But we will be continuing to monitor that and there’s a very good chance that all lanes of I-70 are going to remain closed through the evening commute.” Eibel said.

There is currently no word on when I-70 will reopen.