U.S. 33 & Pickerington/Allen Rd. Area Interchange Project

JACKSONTOWN - A virtual public meeting was held on October 8, 2020, for the U.S. 33 & Pickerington/Allen Road interchange where we received a good amount of feedback from 117 individuals with a total of 233 comments. The interest in the project was very beneficial to the project team in determining a preferred alternative.

After reviewing the information and the comments received from project stakeholders, business owners, residents, and interested parties, the Pickerington Road Alternative (Alternative 2) has been selected as the preferred alternative. The selection of the Pickerington Road Alternative as the preferred alternative was based on the following points:

• Connection to Local Roadway Network – the most frequent comment/concern submitted was related to the connection of the interchange to the local roadway network. Specifically, the concerns and comments were related to the ability of Allen Road and/or Lockville Road to handle additional traffic or truck volumes. Similarly, Pickerington Road was viewed as having the ability to accommodate the redistribution of traffic volumes more effectively, both now and in the future.
• Traffic Pattern/Redistribution – the current traffic patterns for the area show that Pickerington Road serves more traffic and is projected to continue to serve more traffic based on proposed development patterns. The developments that generate the most traffic along Pickerington Road include schools, law enforcement, emergency response, government offices, and residential subdivisions. These developments are projected to continue to drive needs into the future. Concerns were also raised about traffic redistribution to the Hill-Diley interchange if the Allen Road Alternative (Alternative 8) was chosen.
• Floodplain/Emergency Response Impacts – two areas that would have required refined studies moving forward are the impacts to the floodplain associated with the Allen Road Alternative (Alternative 8) and the emergency response impacts with all the presented alternatives. While there was some initial evaluation of the floodplain impacts associated with the Allen Road Alternative, there were some unknown risks moving forward related to floodplain impacts that may have resulted in increased project costs. The long-term impacts to emergency response agencies was also an area of concern for the Allen Road Alternative that was expressed in the public comment period.

The project website (http://www.publicinput.com/F4382) has been updated with the presentations provided at stakeholder meetings, the public meeting presentation, public comments received, and a public comment summary. There will be a 30-day public comment period for any comments related to the selection of the Pickerington Road Alternative (Alternative 2) as the preferred alternative. Please submit comments via the methods listed below by Monday, February 15, 2021.

If you have any questions or comments about this project and/or the selected preferred alternative, please contact me through these options:

Email: Ty.Thompson@dot.ohio.gov
Call: (740) 323-5194
Mail comments to:
Ty Thompson
ODOT District 5
9600 Jacksontown Road SE
Jacksontown, Ohio 43030

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