Orange barrels and cones are our friends

Well, maybe not during rush hour, but after all the holes are filled, and the streets are paved, perhaps we’ll appreciate the reason for their inconvenience.

So why are orange barrels and cones all over the place on W. Main St. near County Rd. 25A? It’s because a large new sewer line is being inserted on the south side of Main St. from Kinna to 25A and will continue north along the east side of 25A to the Abbott plant. Abbott, the producer of Ensure and other products, is in the process of doubling in size, and its wastewater is overwhelming the current sewer line. In addition, the homes on the south side of Main St. near 25A use septic tanks because there is no sewer line available to them. The new line will accommodate both the current shortfalls and future expansions uptown and west to 25A.

The plan for this fall is to finish the new sewer line on Main St., from Kinna to 25A, with the traffic barrels and cones shifting lanes occasionally. Then, in the spring of 2025, the line will go north up the east side of 25A and is projected for completion by the end of March. However, at some point before completion, northbound traffic on 25A will be detoured for a week or two to bypass the Main St./25A intersection, which will be blocked. Drivers will take Blauser east to Kinna, Kinna north to Harmony, and Harmony west back to 25A.

The total cost for the project will be $4.8 million, with some funds supplied by the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA). Tipp City’s Jeremy Bowser, Director of Municipal Services and Engineering, oversees the project. After the work on Main St. is complete, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will be able to repave St. Rt. 571 from West Milton all the way to Kinna, in Tipp.

After Jeremy Bowser and City Manager Eric Mack described the new sewer line, they provided an update on the Interchange Beautification Project.  

The Tipp City Interchange Beautification Project involves redesigning the entrance to Tipp City at the Main St./I-75 intersection—but hurray, no orange barrels or cones are needed! Workers are presently installing brick pavers, low maintenance plantings, sod, and eventually a Tipp City sign on the southbound I-75 ramps, which will be completed this November. The contractor, Double Day Construction, originally planned on finishing the entire project this year, but ran into steeper grades on the interchange ramps than anticipated and a shortage of the desired bricks. The end date for completing the northbound ramps is now early summer in 2025, with a total cost of $688,280.

There has also been talk in Tipp City Council, and with City Manager Eric Mack, about adding decorative fencing to the bridge/overpass at the Main St./I75 interchange to complement the Beautification design. However, the overpass is ODOT’s responsibility, so any changes to it by Tipp City would require ODOT’s agreement and could raise questions about who would then be responsible for the overpass. Tipp City does not want that responsibility, and ODOT plans to eventually replace the overpass, so the issue of enhancing the overpass look in the near term remains unresolved.