The Ohio Department of Transportation is still on track to finish its expansion of U.S. Route 33 in Athens and Meigs counties by fall 2028, despite record rainfall this year in southeast Ohio, an ODOT engineer told The Dispatch.
The $274 million expansion, which started in 2025, will add two lanes to 25 miles of U.S. 33 in Athens and Meigs counties, making the route four lanes wide all the way from Columbus to the Ohio River.
Truck traffic makes up a large portion of the vehicles on U.S. 33 from Athens to West Virginia, and the expansion will stop cars having to pass trucks on a two lane road and risking a head-on crash, Ashley Rittenhouse, ODOT District 10 public information officer, said in an email.
ODOT also expects traffic to increase on U.S.
33 after the expansion as drivers are drawn to the new lanes and higher speed limits, Rittenhouse said.
So far, construction crews in Meigs County have installed more than 40,000 feet of drainage, placed 7,500 tons of rock and completed 1 million cubic yards of excavation, Cary Betzing, ODOT District 10 construction engineer, told The Dispatch in an Oct. 16 email.
In Athens County, crews have completed most of the project’s major drainage work and 1.7 million cubic yards of excavation and embankment, Betzing said.
Traffic impacts for the project have so far been limited to lane closures, orange barrels, temporary traffic signals and occasional side road closures, Rittenhouse said.
“[T]he biggest thing we want to emphasize is safety in the work zone. Drivers should never be distracted behind the wheel, but especially in the work zone, where there are people working who just want to get home at the end of the day," Rittenhouse said. "Work zones can bring many unexpected conditions, like changing speed limits and lane closures, making it that much more important to pay attention."
Ongoing traffic impacts for the project are available on ODOT’s website.
Transportation and neighborhoods reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: US 33 expansion in SE Ohio still set to finish in fall 2028, ODOT says
