ODOT seeks public comment on SR 39 bridge repairs in Holmes County

State Route 39 between State Route 179 and Nashville is next in line for bridge work in Holmes County, and ODOT says traffic will stay open while crews repair the crossing over Crab Run in Washington Township.

The project carries an estimated construction cost of $600,000 and is currently slated to begin in spring 2028 and finish in fall 2028. ODOT’s plan calls for removing the existing wearing surface and placing a new rigid overlay, replacing slab edges, upgrading the bridge railing, patching substructure concrete and encasing pier piling. Approach work is also included, with planning and resurfacing, guardrail replacement and new pavement markings, a sign that the job is meant to address both the bridge itself and the roadway transitions on either side.

For drivers who use SR 39 to move between the SR 179 corridor and Nashville, the key detail is that ODOT says traffic will be maintained at all times during construction. That matters in a part of Holmes County where short-haul travel, farm traffic and local business access can all depend on a steady route through Washington Township.

The bridge is now in the public-comment stage, and ODOT says comments submitted during the posting period are formally documented and considered as part of the agency’s public involvement process. Public-comment windows typically stay open for 30 days. Residents and businesses weighing in should press ODOT on the details that affect daily travel most: whether any detours are expected, how construction timing will be sequenced, whether load limits could change, and how access will be handled during peak travel periods.

The Crab Run project is not the first time ODOT has focused on that waterway in Washington Township. A separate State Route 179 bridge rehabilitation over Crab Run in the same township called for a new deck surface, approach slabs, new bridge railing, approach guardrail, encasement of existing pier columns, full-depth pavement replacement, shoulder widening, pavement markings and signage. The repeated work points to a broader effort to preserve small but important county crossings before they become bigger disruptions.

The timing also comes as ODOT keeps several Holmes County roads busy with other construction. Nighttime resurfacing is underway on eight miles of SR 39 from just west of State Route 93 in Sugarcreek to U.S. 62 in Berlin, with flaggers guiding traffic from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. through Oct. 31, 2026. SR 179 is set to close June 8 for 60 days of pavement rehabilitation between SR 39 and SR 226, with a detour using SR 39 west to SR 3 north and back. In 2021, Holmes County commissioners also raised concerns about the U.S. 62, SR 39 and SR 557 intersection, which led to a traffic safety study.