SANDUSKY COUNTY, Ohio — A stretch of highway near Fremont may soon get a complete engineering overhaul to make it safer for drivers.
Currently, Sandusky County Road 198 crosses the four-lane highway of US Route 20 referred to as the Fremont bypass. In a safety study, the Ohio Department of Transportation confirmed that this intersection saw 13 accidents in the last three years, two of which were fatal.
Now, ODOT officials have brought forth new alternatives for this stretch of US 20, one of which would permanently close the median crossing of County Road 198. The others would re-engineer the transition from the four-lane highway to Fremont's State Street with either a roundabout or a proper stop light intersection.
"If you're coming out of Fremont, you can't go west onto the US 20 bypass, so the three proposals allow that movement of that additional traffic as well," ODOT representative Rebecca Dangelo said.
The first proposal to the state safety office, at a budget of about $12 million dollars to add new on and off ramps, was turned down. Now, these new proposals for the county commissioners would completely eliminate the bridge and make it easier for all traffic to get to any direction of the busy road, for less money.
"The three proposals at that interchange all flatten that out and make it no more bridges. So, that in itself reduces the cost and really helps going forward," Dangelo said.
ODOT officials expect to receive an answer from the Sandusky County Commissioners by the end of the week. They should know if they've received safety grant funding by the end of November.
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