Delaware County has received its largest ever grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The $21 million grant, announced on Jan. 8, will help fund reconstruction of a portion of East Orange Road. The rebuilt road will run under railroad tracks used by Norfolk Southern and CSX trains. The East Orange Road Underpass project, managed by the Delaware County Engineer's Office and the county's Transportation Improvement District (TID), has a total estimated cost of $43 million. Construction will begin in 2026 and should be completed in 2029.

Delaware County Engineer Chris Bauserman said, "This is a great example of a multi-jurisdictional cooperative effort, with many partners working together to complete a significant regional project."

Orange Road is one of the most heavily traveled east-west roads in the county. The railroad tracks run across Orange Road between Green Meadows Drive and Blue Holly Drive. About 10,000 vehicles and 30 trains transit the crossing each day. Additionally, traffic stoppages due to train crossings impact response routes for emergency-service and law-enforcement vehicles.

The project will lower East Orange Road by approximately 22 feet beneath the rail overpass and will accommodate the installation of a deep storm sewer along Orange Road. A shared-use path also will be constructed.

Project funding, noted Bauserman, is the result of many different organizations coming together, including the Ohio Rail Development Commission, which submitted the application on behalf of the Delaware County TID. The balance of funding will come from Delaware County's general fund, fees generated by local Tax-Increment Financing districts, and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.

"Special thanks must go to Governor Mike DeWine and to the Ohio Rail Development Commission's executive director Matt Dietrich," said Bauseman, "along with former Ohio Department of Transportation director Jack Marchbanks, current director Pamela Boratyn, and all of the state and federal legislators who supported this application."

Design engineering has been completed and the Engineer's Office expects to complete right-of-way acquisitions in 2025. Once construction begins in 2026, a temporary road will route vehicular traffic along the south side of the existing road. The bike trail currently there will be closed for the duration of the project.

For more information about the East Orange Road Underpass project, please go to: https://engineer.co.delaware.oh.us/projects/orange-road-railroad-grade-separation/.

Design rendering of future East Orange Road underpass