Bluff Road closing for culvert replacements

Randolph County residents will have to endure another significant road project soon.

County engineer Mike Riebeling confirmed to the Herald Tribune that the upcoming 4.8 mile resurfacing project on Bluff Road from Lock and Dam Road toward Modoc will require Bluff Road to be closed at times.

Roots Road, past the two bridges, will not be affected.

"We have some pipe culverts under the road we need to replace and since Chester has a gas line under the road, we're letting the contractor close the road," Riebeling said.

Riebeling said the contractor, E.T. Simonds Construction Co. of Carbondale, is open to starting on March 1, but may wait until the following Monday, March 6, depending on weather.

"It will be an every-day closure for three weeks to get the culverts in," he said.

Riebeling said Bluff Road will be closed every day from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for three weeks, then closed at night for two weeks. It will be closed completely for a week to relocate a curve.

The resurfacing phase of the project will begin after all that work has been completed.

"There's a curve to relocate that will take longer than a day," Riebeling said. "There's some box culverts that will also take longer than a day."

Riebeling noted the $1.4 million project will include intermittent lane closures once resurfacing begins. He added there is not a set completion date on the contract as it involves number of days the contractor is able to work on the project without weather-related delays.

"We could still have a snowstorm this winter," Riebeling said. "We're hoping to be done in early August."

The county had a video board at the intersection of Roots Road and State Route 3 advising motorists of the upcoming project.