County Road 168 closed May 5 for culvert replacement
CR 168 was shut down May 5 between TR 417 and TR 416 for a culvert replacement, rerouting school buses, farm traffic and deliveries for the day.
Drivers who rely on County Road 168 for school runs, farm traffic and deliveries had to find another way through the corridor May 5, when the road was closed between TR 417 and TR 416 from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a culvert replacement. Even a short closure on a township road can ripple through a workday in Holmes County, where the same route may carry students, mail, seed, milk or parts on the same stretch of pavement.
The repair was limited to one day and one segment, but the work was important. Culverts move water under the road, and when they fail or wear out, the roadbed above them can weaken. Replacing one before it becomes a larger problem is the kind of maintenance that helps keep rural roads open and safe, especially in a county where a detour can add time to repeated trips across the same roads.
Holmes County Engineer Christopher R. Young, P.E., P.S., oversees a highway system that includes 250 miles of roadways and 283 bridges. The Holmes County Engineer lists bridge and culvert replacements among its routine duties, along with paving, sealing, striping, signage, mowing, brush cutting, ditching, safety projects and snow removal. That steady work is spread across small projects like the CR 168 closure rather than through one large construction season.
The county also points drivers to road alerts, road records, a paving dashboard and a report-a-problem tool through the engineer’s office. The office is open Monday through Thursday from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and its after-hours and emergency number is 330-674-1936.
Funding for that road work comes in part from a 0.25% county road sales tax approved by voters in 2016 and renewed in 2021 for 2022-2026. County officials say the tax is dedicated exclusively to paving projects and is meant to help repave county roads at least once every 10 years.
CR 168 was not the only culvert project on the county’s radar. Ohio Department of Transportation District 11 also lists an SR 39 culvert and bridge replacement east of Loudonville that is closing that road for 45 days, with completion set for October 31, 2026. Taken together, the projects show how much of Holmes County’s transportation system depends on routine repairs done one segment at a time.
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