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ODOT project halted until county, state settle who pays roughly $439,000 water‑line relocation
Summary
ODOT and county engineers told Commissioners that a planned intersection and sidewalk package near Howland Corners is paused because a water line in state right‑of‑way must be relocated; initial estimates put the county share at about $439,000, but staff said design savings could reduce that by roughly $200,000.
Chad Rut, capital programs administrator for ODOT District 4, briefed the Trumbull County Commissioners on a multi‑site road and safety package that includes a diverging‑diamond interchange already under construction and a separate intersection/sidewalk/signal project at 46 and Market Street in Howland Corners. Rut said crews must move a water line inside ODOT’s right‑of‑way because state separation standards require greater distance between the existing water and planned sewer improvements.
The project is otherwise funded through safety grants and local partners, Rut said, but "to move forward with the project" the county needs to provide a deposit "around $439,000," a figure Rut described at the workshop as an initial estimate. He added his office has identified about 700 feet of pipe purchased for the nearby DDI project that could be reused, and that design changes might cut the county’s out‑of‑pocket obligation by roughly $200,000.
Why it matters: the intersection work is tied to a series of safety, congestion and capacity improvements that county and state engineers say must proceed in a specific order. Commissioners and staff repeatedly described the intersection projects as time‑sensitive because delaying them could imperil large safety grants and a roughly $15 million overall improvement package tied to the diverging‑diamond project.
A legal and precedent dispute surfaced at the meeting. County sanitary engineering staff and the prosecutor discussed whether older ODOT permits (one cited from 1993) created a county obligation to make relocation payments. ODOT officials said more recent permit language generally places relocation responsibility on the utility owner, but sanitary staff and county counsel noted a past project where the county agreed to pay relocation costs to avoid losing critical grant funding. As one county official summed up the dilemma: accepting the bill can allow a major project to proceed, but it raises questions about the county’s legal obligation and prudent use of public funds.
Eastgate and other regional partners offered to re‑examine grant and CAC opportunities, and ODOT said it could allow phased payments rather than full upfront deposition in some cases. Commissioners asked staff and the prosecutor to continue legal review and to pursue any possible offsets from project savings and reuse of existing pipe before any decision to obligate county funds.
What’s next: ODOT has paused advertising for the Howland Corners work until the county indicates how it will proceed. The county prosecutor and sanitary engineer will further research permit language and precedent, and staff will return with refined cost estimates and proposed funding options. No final legislative appropriation was recorded at the workshop.
Sources: Workshop remarks by Chad Rut (ODOT District 4) and Trumbull County sanitary and legal staff.
