TROY TOWNSHIP — Adena Corp. of Mansfield on Thursday was awarded a $2.44 million contract to build a traffic roundabout at the intersection of Lexington-Springmill and Home Roads.
The Richland County Board of Commissioners approved County Engineer Adam Gove’s recommendation to select Adena, which had the lowest of three bids submitted for the work.
Richland Construction offered to do the work for $2.72 million and Shelly & Sands submitted a bid for $2.96 million, according to Gove.
Gove’s office had estimated the project at $2.9 million. Bids were opened March 12.
“(Adena) met all the other bidding requirements, so I do recommend that we award the contract to Adena Corporation,” Gove said.
A separate $591,755 design contract for the roundabout was awarded to EMHT of Columbus in 2023.
Grant funds from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Public Works Commission will cover 90 percent of the costs for the project, according to Gove, who has said about $350,000 in local funds will be needed.
No start date has been established for the work, expected to begin later this spring. The project will close the road for about 120 days and the B&O Trail at that location for 90 days, according to Gove.
The signed detour will utilize U.S. 42, Trimble Road and Park Avenue West, according to Gove.
“We realize those familiar with the area will find a shorter detour,” he has said.
The work, which Gove first talked about with commissioners in 2022, must be complete by the end of October, he said.
The engineer has told commissioners studies have shown that intersection to be the most dangerous in a traffic corridor between Lexington and Ontario that is one of the busiest in the county.
A traffic safety study done by EMH&T in 2021 examined crash trends along a three-mile segment of Lexington-Springmill Road from Cockley Road to Marion Avenue Road.
“The study identified the segment as an area of focus due to the crash frequency and operational concerns at some of the intersections along the corridor. From 2017 to 2019, the study area experienced 95 crashes with the majority being rear end crashes near intersections,” the study found.
Gove said Thursday there was a fatality at the intersection just before the planning process began on the intersection.
He said a traffic signal was not the preferred solution.
“Traffic lights have issues as well. It’s not as cheap as everybody thinks. It can cause unnecessary stops on Lexington-Spring Mill, and roundabouts have proven to be more effective, safer and more efficient than traffic lights,” Gove said.
The engineer said he remained confident large trucks traveling north on Lexington-Springmill would be able to get up the large hill to the north of the intersection.
“I believe so, yes, in good weather. We have trucks that (now) have trouble in the wintertime. I think we had one stuck there this winter just because of ice and snow. But otherwise, they should be good to go,” he said.
It will be the third roundabout constructed in Richland County.
The county’s first roundabout at the intersection of Cook Road/Illinois Avenue and Mansfield-Lucas Road was constructed in 2022. That intersection was closed for around 75 days while the work was done.
The city of Mansfield built its first roundabout in 2012 at the intersection of Middle-Bellville and Straub roads at a cost of $500,000. It’s the only such structure in the city.
The engineer has said the three-legged roundabout will be identical in lane size to the one at the intersection of Cook Road/Illinois Avenue and Mansfield-Lucas Road, which has proven to be an effective traffic control device.
The single-lane traffic control device helped to reduce accidents by 40 percent at the intersection, averaging three per year, ODOT said in January 2025.
Perhaps more importantly, there had been zero injury crashes at the site, according to the state.
