Nelsonville Route 33 bypass set to open

NELSONVILLE – With the long-a-waited though controversial U.S. Route 33 bypass around Nelsonville near completion, the Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 10 announced Friday that the schedule for a planned opening ceremony

The official opening ceremony for the newly constructed U.S. Route 33 will be Tuesday, October 1, at 9:30 a.m. The opening ceremony will be held at the new State Route 78/ State Route 691 interchange and is open to the public.

Persons wishing to attend the ceremony can access the area via the new State Route 691 access road off of old route 33 southeast of Nelsonville.

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Once the opening ceremony is complete ODOT hopes to have the new west bound lanes of U.S. Route 33 open by noon. The new east bound lanes should be opened by 3 a.m. Traffic on the new U.S. Route 33 will be down to a two lane roadway at the Elm Rock Road overpass southeast of Nelsonville while construction crews complete the final transition away from the old roadway.

ODOT advises persons traveling the new U.S. Route 33 corridor through the Nelsonville area should use caution do to numerous traffic pattern changes.

The bypass had been planned for years and many Nelsonville residents feared a loss of commerce, especially along Canal Street. Proponents said near-daily traffic backups on Canal Street show the bypass was needed.

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