By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
After decades on Irving Street, the Ohio Department of Transportation finally found a new home at Crossroads Industrial Park.
A ribbon cutting was held Thursday afternoon for the new 34,000 square foot Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) facility on the back end of the industrial park. Local ODOT veterans, Kathy Hunt and Randy Hanes, were officially handed the keys to the complex.
“It’s pretty amazing, really nice,” said Hanes, a 24-year ODOT mechanic. “It’s a lot more space. It’ll be nice to keep the trucks inside.”
“Same work, just a nicer environment,” Hunt said with a chuckle. She will celebrate her 26th year with ODOT in February.
The facility sits on roughly ten acres – or two combined lots – along the roaring U.S. 30 highway, though it does not have immediate access to the busy road. Responsible for 400 total line miles in Crawford County, the local ODOT garage now has a large cold storage building, a new brine system, storage for aggregate, a salt structure that can hold 6,000 tons of salt, a wielding bay, a mechanics area, and new offices that put the former cramped ones to shame.
The old garage on West Irving Street in Bucyrus still holds some of ODOT’s equipment, but just for now. Steve Durbin, the Transportation Administrator who splits his time between Crawford and Richland counties, said the former facility will be ready to go to its new owner – whoever that may be – fairly soon. He was also grateful to the neighbors of the Irving Street facility, who never called to complain about the crews working at all hours of the day and night.
“This county is by far, in my opinion, is the best group in the district,” Durbin commended. “They take it personally if the roads aren’t clear.”
Cindy Reed, another longtime employee who takes care of highway maintenance, was certainly proud to be a part of the celebration of the new facility.
“It’s great. I’ve been here for 23 years and this is awesome,” she said.
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