PROCTORVILLE – The owner of Ward’s Service Center on Irene Road knew exactly when Big Paddy Creek Bridge shut down Monday morning.

Wednesday, March 01, 2000

PROCTORVILLE – The owner of Ward’s Service Center on Irene Road knew exactly when Big Paddy Creek Bridge shut down Monday morning. It was when the cars started lining up in front of his business, and they weren’t there to be serviced.

"It’s been backed up in here since 10 a.m.," said Ward at about 4 p.m. – one hour until the dreaded rush hour. "It’s unbelievable. The NAPA parts delivery came through here and said it was just unbelievably slow and this isn’t even the rough time yet."

Ohio 7 will be shut down between Ohio 775 and Irene Road, which is also known as County Road 403, for the next four months while Ohio Department of Transportation crews replace Big Paddy Creek Bridge, said Holly Snedecor-Gray, Ohio Department of Transportation District 9 public information officer.

The bridge, which was built in 1938, will be replaced with a new steel beam bridge wide enough to handle an additional lane of traffic once a third lane is installed through Proctorville,

Throughout the closure, traffic will be detoured onto Irene Road and Ohio 775. To ease the flow of traffic, Walnut Street has been closed and a stop sign has been erected on Ohio 7 at the east side of the intersection. As a result, Ohio 775 motorists are able to make continuous right turns onto Ohio 7 and Ohio 7 motorists are able to make continuous left turns onto Ohio 775.

A temporary traffic signal also has been installed at the intersection of Ohio 775 and Irene Road to help control the larger volume of traffic at the intersection.

The traffic signal isn’t helping that much, though, Ward said.

It’s just one more stop in a series for frustrated motorists, he said.

"I guess the speed limit’s 55 miles per hour through here, because the cars are at least going that," Ward said.

The speed combined with frustrated drivers makes for the perfect atmosphere for an automobile accident, the former Proctorville Volunteer Fire Department assistant chief said.

"There’s quite a bit of traffic and the traffic’s backed up from the light to the garage," Ward said. "People are talking abut house trailers trying to make those turns, and they have a hard time. Tractor trailers can’t make a wide enough turn."

Despite the traffic congestion, Ward hasn’t seen his business suffer.

"It’s been kind of busy," he said. "People are just complaining. They’re scared about coming in and out. It’s just going to be a hassle. Everyone will know where Ward’s Service Center is after this."

Ward doesn’t see a solution to the current Proctorville and Rome Township traffic woes.

"It’s not going to be good and it’s not going to be something that will fix itself until the bridge is back open," he said.

Traffic worsened as the day went by, said Rick Dunfee, Proctorville village administrator.

Proctorville village officials have spent Monday and Tuesday watching traffic patterns.

"It’s there," said Rick Dunfee, village administrator. "It’s not real good. The traffic’s bumper to bumper on Ohio 7."

Area residents seem to be able to get where they are going, though. It just takes them about 15 to 20 minutes longer, said Beverly Buchanan.

"A couple of people I talked to said it took them an extra 15 to 20 minutes," Mrs. Buchanan said. "That’s not really bad under the circumstances. Traffic seems to be flowing just fine through Proctorville, but I don’t know about on (Ohio) 775. There’s nothing you can do about that, though."

If traffic conditions become unbearable, ODOT officials will try to make other options, said John F. Hagen, ODOT District 9 deputy director.

"Now that Ohio 7 is closed, the Ohio Department of Transportation will be monitoring the flow of traffic, and, if necessary, we will make adjustments to improve the flow of traffic," Hagen said.

Traffic flow is better than expected, Mrs. Snedecor-Gray said.

"(Project inspector J.D. Hoover and transportation manager Lindsey Pemberton) stayed on the project until about 20 to 6 Monday to observe the traffic flow," she said. "From his observation, Hoover felt the traffic moved fairly well. There were some delays. But most of the people he talked to said they were only a few minutes later than usual. It was not a significant amount of time."

Steps will be taken soon to correct a few problems the two observed, however, Mrs. Snedecor-Gray added.

"One of the problems is that people are pulling up on the signal at Ohio 775 and Irene Road and the people on Ohio 775 are stopping on red and not turning right," she said. "This is a state where you can turn right on red. We will install a sign indicating that motorists can turn right on red there."

The bridge is scheduled to reopen by June 30.