Construction will continue throughout most of the year on a large project to realign the intersection at Old Hwy. 21 and East Four Ridge and West Four Ridge roads north of Otto in central Jefferson County.
The county project, which will cost an estimated $2.4 million, started in mid-November and should wrap up in the fall, depending on the weather, Jefferson County Public Works Director Jason Jonas said.
The project involves replacing some pavement along Old Hwy. 21 and readjusting the approaches from both East Four Ridge and West Four Ridge roads to the highway, he said.
“Old Hwy. 21 is the longest continuous county road in our system,” Jonas said. “It’s about 15 miles, from north of Lonedell Road to the Hillsboro city limits. We started taking it in (as the new portion of the state highway opened) from the mid-1980s through 2009. The state didn’t do much to (the old highway) for some time before then, and we haven’t done much to it since. But it’s now time.”
For the last two years, the county has been replacing portions of Old Hwy. 21. Much of that ongoing work, Jonas said, involves repairing the joints between the concrete portions of the road surface.
Jonas said when the state laid down the surface for the original Hwy. 21 in the 1930s, it was done in 20-foot slabs of concrete, 7 inches deep. Over the years, he said, the concrete has been overlaid with 7 inches of asphalt, but some of the original concrete has shifted up or down at the joints.
“We’re taking all that out and laying down a new foundation,” Jonas said.
The current project involves replacing about 1,500 feet of pavement on Old Hwy. 21.
However, the major portion of the project, Jonas said, is realigning the intersection.
“On East Four Ridge Road, as you come up to the old highway, there are snakes with three S-curves, which is a dangerous situation,” he said. “So we’re going to straighten that out and shift the intersection several hundred feet to the north, which will entail cutting into two hills. This will improve the sight distances for motorists, which will make it a much safer intersection.”
In addition, a right-turn lane will be added for motorists turning from southbound Old Hwy. 21 onto West Four Ridge Road and two acceleration lanes will help drivers turning from West Four Ridge Road onto southbound Old Hwy. 21 and from East Four Ridge Road onto northbound Old Hwy. 21.
“The high rate of speed on Old Hwy. 21 makes it dangerous to turn onto or cross Old Hwy. 21,” Jonas said. “These improvements will make it a much safer place to drive.”
In addition, four overhead lights will be placed at the intersection, which will help drivers at night.
While the work to excavate the hills has been underway, crews from C-1 Public Water District are relocating about 1,500 feet of a main line, Jonas said.
“There’s a lot going on there,” he said.
Jonas said there should be no complete road closures while work is ongoing, save for a short time when East Four Ridge will be closed during the summer to complete the relocation of the road.
“We’re going to schedule it so it doesn’t affect school bus traffic,” he said.
Gershenson Construction Co. in Eureka, which submitted the lowest of five bids, was awarded a $1.85 million contract for the construction project.
The federal government will cover 80 percent of the cost of the project, with the rest paid for through the county’s share of a countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements.
Jonas said work to the 9-mile section of Old Hwy. 21 from highways M and MM in Otto south to near Hwy. A at the Hillsboro city limits could begin in late spring.