The Ohio Department of Transportation is building a new full-service garage on Route 29 in West Jefferson for maintenance of state, interstate and U.S. roadways in Madison County. Shown above is construction of the salt storage building that will be part of the facility.
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is building a new garage to serve Madison County.
The facility is going up on 15 acres located between Jefferson Industries and Buckeye Ready Mix on State Route 29, a quarter-mile north of Route 40 in West Jefferson. Construction started in July of last year and is slated to be complete by June 27 of this year.
The new garage will replace two of ODOT’s three facilities in the county—the main garage on U.S. Route 42 in London and an outpost on Route 142 in West Jefferson. ODOT’s outpost on Columbus Street in Mount Sterling will remain operational.
“The new garage will meet new safety criteria and give us the space we need to work on and house our equipment,” said Shawn Rostorfer, ODOT District 6 transportation administrator for Madison County.
Over the years, road maintenance equipment has gotten bigger. The crew now uses plows that are 12-feet across instead of 11 feet and dump trucks with tandem axles instead of single axles, making for longer trucks.
The new garage will be a full-service facility with fuel on-site and mechanical lifts for in-house repairs and maintenance. It will include three mechanic bays, 16 storage bays for vehicles, storage space for salt and other materials, and an office area for two managers, an account clerk and construction services personnel. A total of 22 employees will staff the facility.
As for the decision to build the garage on Route 29, Rostorfer said, “It is centrally located in our most critical response area.”
The site sits 12 miles from the Clark County line to the west and 12 miles from the Franklin County line to the east, putting it in the middle of the stretches of I-70 and U.S. Route 40 that run through Madison County.
ODOT crews maintain interstate, state and U.S. routes. They are responsible for making repairs to and removing snow, ice, litter and brush from these roadways and the associated right-of-ways. In Madison County, ODOT maintains 613 lane miles.
Revenue from the state gas tax is covering the $7 million cost of the new garage.
The fate of the old London garage and West Jefferson outpost is undecided.
“Right now the discussion is to get rid of them. Whether that’s to the village, the city or a private entity—the logistics have not been determined yet,” Rostorfer said.
While the Mount Sterling outpost will remain operational, ODOT officials are discussing its future, as well. Possibilities include purchasing adjoining property to expand the facility or building a new outpost on another property that isn’t so confined, Rostorfer said.
