Greene County receives annual highway and bridge report; work plan, inspections, and closures outlined

Greene County commissioners on June 17 received the Highway Department's annual condition report and a summary of the 2025 road and bridge maintenance program.

The presentation, given by Stephanie (a county staff member), said the county is responsible for about 323 miles of county roads and 284 bridges and reported that “all of our roads are in that fair or better category” with a goal of 90% in fair-or-better condition. She told commissioners the county is at 98.6% fair-or-better for bridges and described the federal “sufficiency rating” that factors into bridge prioritization.

The report matters because routine preventive maintenance stretches pavement life and helps avoid much more expensive reconstruction later, Stephanie said. “There's a sweet spot we try to capture with doing that preventative maintenance,” she said, explaining that the county uses treatments from crack sealing and chip-and-fog seals to microsurfacing and full overlays.

County staff described inspection and maintenance practices: bridges are inspected annually, inspections include hands-on examinations of beams, abutments and stream conditions, and the department performs computerized load ratings to respond to updated Federal Highway requirements. Stephanie said the county does not perform routine physical load testing of bridges but run load-rating analyses and will impose posting or restrictions where the analysis requires them.

Key program items and near-term construction discussed include: - 2025 paving: Beaver Valley, Waynesville, Pinewood and Wagner were listed as overlay/ resurfacing candidates. Chip-and-fog seals are planned for Solon, Grape, South Charleston and Jasper Station. Microsurfacing was proposed for Wilmington, Dayton, Wagner, Corey and Centerville Station. Stephanie described chip-and-fog as a way to lock aggregate and reduce loose gravel. - Bridge projects: planned replacements include New Germany (Trade?) Bridge, Hawkins Road and Brown Road; Roxanna–New Burlington was entering design. Several projects will require full closures; staff said New Germany and two others will be closed while crews remove and reset beams. Ground Road will be maintained with temporary traffic signals during work because it is a dead-end approach. - Safety and intersection projects: Fairgrounds at Hilltop and Traybine at Dayton Xenia are listed for roundabout conversions; Indian Ripple at Factory will be widened and receive a signal to add a turn lane and address a high-crash location. - I‑35 reconstruction update: county staff said traffic shifts are planned in the coming month as eastbound lanes move to new alignments and work continues on westbound lanes; staff expects the project to be in its final configuration going into winter (with final pavement marking possibly postponed to spring, weather permitting).

Staff also described staffing levels (two assistant engineers, a deputy engineer, four construction inspectors, a bridge inspector, and highway crew leadership and workers) and explained how the department prioritizes roads by life cycle, last maintenance date, traffic counts and potential for state or federal match funding.

Commissioners asked about inspection hours, how segments are scored, and whether unusual failures have occurred; Stephanie said bridge inspections are hands-on and that, in her career, there have been instances where hidden deterioration was discovered during construction or milling operations. She noted that the department photographs and documents inspections and that ODOT and the public also report problems.

The presentation closed with staff noting the county posts updates and drone footage on social media and the county app for construction and superload movements.

The board voted to approve the department's condition estimate and program details as presented.

Looking ahead, staff said they will return with design details and updates on specific projects and will notify the public about traffic shifts and closures through press releases and the county's social channels.