VERMILLION TOWNSHIP — The Heartland Technical Education Center will soon begin construction on turn lanes and deceleration lanes to prevent congestion on Ohio 60.
The project will include adding turn lanes and deceleration lanes to both Heartland Tech entrances.
Superintendent Rod Cheyney said the project was created as the result of a traffic study required by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
“Start and release times are really the two big times when it gets a little congested,” Cheyney said.
Construction will begin after school concludes ar at the end of May and will wrap up before the 2026-27 school year begins in August.
Cheyney said the project could temporarily make Ohio 60 a one-lane road at times, but he did not know for how long or when.
The board of education awarded the construction project to Mc. B Paving LLC, which had the lowest bid at roughly $883,000.
That money comes from the 1.1-mill continuing levy Ashland and Holmes County voters passed in November 2021 to support the career center’s expansion.
Overall, the expansion project was estimated to cost $44 million, most of which funded significant renovations to the main building and the former Ashland County Service Center, purchased for the project in 2022.
Other construction updates
Cheyney expects most of the project will wrap up in October. Hammond Construction officially broke ground on the major expansion in May 2024.
“It’s been a great cooperation between Hammond Construction and us administratively to keep this project moving forward,” Cheyney said.
The crew recently wrapped up work on the new upstairs health wing, which houses healthcare and STEM-related classes and labs.
And administrative staff will move into their new office space next week, Cheyney said.
