TOLEDO, Ohio — The next time you drive on I-75 you may notice more lanes open, easier merging and fewer orange barrels.
Patrick McColley with the Ohio Department of Transportation said the goal of the billion dollar project on I-75 was to improve the interstate in Northwest Ohio. Now, the majority of that construction is completed.
"Those improvements include widening of I-75. They also include a lot of interchange enhancement on and off ramp enhancements," said McColley. "So the trail was one of the big enhancements as far as the interchange."
With the 10-year project finally coming to an end, community members are ecstatic.
"75 has been under construction since as long as I can remember somewhere around the city, but it's nice to finally see our part be done," said Nader Salami, the partial owner of Lazeez, a restaurant in downtown Toledo. Salami said he's noticed a difference in his everyday drive as he uses the interstate to get to work.
"Especially coming to downtown, you have to get on 75," said McColley. "You've got the two exits, now with all lanes being opened, the exits don't back up anymore, so traffic is a lot smoother and looks better."
McColley said rebuilding the DiSalle Bridge was one of the final projects in this plan.
"We used to dump you on I-75 pretty quickly," said McColley. "Now you have an add drop lane in there to make it a more safe working or more safe driving condition, more safe merge condition, but also we're adding capacity."
He said ODOT's project on I-475 will soon be completed as well.
"We already completed the widening on I-475 from Airport Highway north to the U.S. 23 split. We're currently working on U.S. 24 to Airport Highway, which will include a new interchange and the other diverging diamond interchange like the one in Perrysburg at [exit] 20A," said McColley.