Busy U.S. 35-Woodman ramp reopening, but more closings coming this summer

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May 8—An entrance ramp at a busy U.S. 35 crossroads in Riverside is expected to reopen by next week as part of a $10.3 million interchange realignment.

The ramp from Woodman Drive to westbound 35 has been closed since October, causing traffic to detour to the South Smithville Road/35 interchange in Dayton.

The ramp had been targeted to reopen by April 30, but weather conditions prompted delays, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The ramp should reopen by May 15 or perhaps earlier depending on weather conditions in the days ahead, ODOT spokeswoman Loryn Bryson told the Dayton Daily News.

Tens of thousands of vehicles travel daily through the Riverside interchange, according to the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. It is located between Beavercreek and Dayton, and between Kettering and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, as well as the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

An estimated 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles per day pass that interchange — 20,000 to 24,000 on Woodman Drive, and 62,000 to 67,000 on U.S. 35, according to regional planning.

ODOT's work to realign the interchange — what Riverside officials call a city gateway — is expected to be done by the end of September, ODOT spokeswoman Mandi Dillon has said.

With the ramp reopening for westbound highway traffic, the next closures are not expected until summer, when the U.S. 35 eastbound entrance and exit ramps shut down, Dillon has said. Those closures are tentatively scheduled for mid-July.

Woodman traffic that shifted to the northbound lanes last fall is expected to continue into late summer while crews repair the southbound lanes, according to ODOT.