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Overview/History In 1999, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) initiated a planning study within the Portsmouth area called the Portsmouth Transportation Study. This study investigated the transportation and economic needs of the area and examined several alternative transportation improvements to see which concept would best address these needs. The study recommended the Airport Bypass concept, a new 16-mile freeway from U.S. Route 52 east of New Boston to U.S. Route 23 north of Lucasville. No specific alignment was suggested by the feasibility study, with a one-mile wide, sixteen-mile long corridor recommended for more detailed analysis to determine the best location for the new route. The Airport Bypass concept was chosen to improve regional mobility and increase the potential for economic development within the region. The study found that this new highway would reduce the travel time between Wheelersburg to Lucasville by approximately 16 minutes. A motorist making that trip twice each workday would save nearly 140 hours per year. With over 17,000 vehicles per day currently making this trip, that would add up to more than 1.5 million hours saved by motorists each year. More importantly, the feasibility study concluded that the proposed bypass would provide access to potential development areas and would increase Scioto County’s chances of attracting new business investments. In the fall of 2001, ODOT began the project development phase that was designed to examine the impacts and benefits of multiple alternative alignments to determine the best location for the new roadway. In 2004, it was determined that the preferred alternative was the “Hill Alignment” that called for the new roadway to be built primarily along the mountains. The proposed roadway will be a new four-lane, limited access freeway, approximately 16 miles in length, bypassing approximately 26 miles of US 52 and US 23 through Portsmouth, Ohio. The new roadway will include interchanges with US 52, SR 140, a relocated In June of 2006, the Federal Highway Administration formally approved the environmental impact statement and proposed mitigation by approving the Record of Decision. This action indicates that all National Environmental Protection Agency requirements have been met for this alternative. With the approval of the environmental document (ROD), ODOT began purchasing some of the right-of-way needed for parcels labeled as “Total Takes”. “Total Takes” are properties in which the entire parcel is needed for the project, not just a portion of it. Preliminary design for the preferred “Hill Alternative” was completed in the summer of 2008. Due to funding constraints, ODOT has decided to build the freeway in three phases. Each phase is detailed below. Phase 1: This phase is approximately 3.0 miles long and extends from relocated Phase 2: This phase is approximately 7.4 miles long and extends from the end of Phase 1 at Phase 3: This phase is approximately 5.6 miles long and extends from US 52 to the end of Phase 1 at relocated  |