ODOT Explains I-70 Road and I-70 Ramp Repairs

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- If you’ve traveled down Underwood street lately, you may have noticed that the I-70 East ramp toward Wheeling has been completely removed. Before removal, the on-ramp wasn’t in the best of shape. And you may be wondering why the state didn’t just repair and maintain the already existing road.

The reasoning is that the on-ramp was paved on top of unstable ground. The road was still safe for traveling, but because of what was beneath it, the road surface wasn’t meant to last long term. The other on and off-ramps in Zanesville and the interstate itself that runs through the city limits are in the same boat, and will need the ground beneath them fortified. 

“They’re all getting the same treatment, there’s unstable subgrade under all of these ramps, so that could cause differential slab movement, which is why you see all these bumps through this area. So we’re starting from scratch,” Michelle Sidwell, a transportation engineer with Ohio Department of Transportation stated.

They will be doing cement stabilization, which is mixing the underlying dirt with cement from the surface to 14” down, to give it long lasting strength so the roads can last a minimum of 25 years. The project will take awhile, so the Ohio Department of Transportation asks for your patience and promises the benefits will outweigh the headaches in the long run. 

“Bear with us, I know there’s going to be inconveniences for this. We’re rebuilding the whole interstate, we’re building it to last. I know it seems like a long time, but in reality it’s not that long for what you’re going to get… Less maintenance, so we’ll be out here less often patching and interfering with your daily commute,” Sidwell said.

While the interstate and all the on and off-ramps will be repaired in the near future, they will always make sure there’s at least one east and west on and off-ramp available, and that traffic will still be able to flow through I-70. The east ramp on Underwood Street will reopen later in the fall and the expected project completion date is on October 31st, 2027. The westbound off-ramp off Underwood is also scheduled to close this Monday.