Kettering bridge work to close main road near Dayton golf course
Project to close part of Dorothy Lane for brief periods later this year.
The city will get more state money for a $3 million bridge replacement, but that project will close part of Dorothy Lane for brief periods.
Kettering is getting $800,000 through the state public works commission, in addition to $2 million from the Ohio Department of Transportation to replace the Ridgeway Road bridge, Kettering’s Assistant City Manager Steve Bergstresser said Monday.
Work on the 54-year-old bridge crossing over West Dorothy Lane near Dayton’s Community Golf Course will require temporary closures of that road when the project starts later this year or early next year, Bergstresser said.
“Short closures” of West Dorothy near the bridge will occur mainly on “nights and/or weekends” to demolish the existing bridge “fairly soon at the start of the project,” he said.
That area of Dorothy will also close to install beams for the new bridge. Detours will involve Southern Boulevard, West Stroop Road and Far Hills Avenue, Bergstresser said.
A section of Ridgeway from Oak Knoll Drive in Oakwood to Canterbury Drive in Kettering
will be closed for duration of the project, he said.
Kettering City Council Tuesday night is set to consider a measure to advertise for bids on the project, city records show.
The work to replace the bridge is estimated to cost $2.8 million, most of it funded by ODOT, city records show. A public art component of the project has been budgeted at $350,000.
The replacement bridge will be similar to the existing one, capable of carrying vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians, Bergstresser said.
Bids are targeted for opening in early October with a contract expected to be awarded shortly thereafter, Bergstresser said.
“A lot of it depends on contractor availability and their schedule,” he said. “With the holidays around that time they may not want to start until after the first of the year. There’s a lot of variables that go into it.”
Once construction begins on the bridge, it should take about a year to complete, he added.
The Ridgeway Road bridge currently has a weight limit which includes “emergency vehicle load restrictions,” barring Kettering’s largest fire truck from crossing it, Bergstresser said.
Traffic count numbers from May 2017 indicate about 900 vehicles cross the bridge — a popular bike route — each day.