(Road Work - Photo Illustration/MetroCreative)

MARIETTA — Members of the public are invited to attend a meeting about the Logistics Lane project along Ohio 7 in Washington County.

The Ohio Department of Transportation District 10 will play host to the open house-style meeting from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the gymnasium at the Marietta Armory, 241 Front St.

Construction is expected to begin on the project in 2027 from Veto Road to the northern end of Blue Knob Road between Belpre and Marietta. A nearly $8.8 million grant from the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program was announced in January.

Improvements are aimed at increasing safety and capacity in the area, according to a release from ODOT. It cites a history of crashes at the Veto/Blue Knob Road and Ohio /Blue Knob Road intersections and studies indicating there would be excessive delays at existing intersections if future development in the area proceeds without changes.

The design of the project will also consider a history of flooding in the area, with a goal of reducing high water impacts, the release says.

In addition, infrastructure is to be built to facilitate future testing and deployment of “smart mobility solutions in the corridor,” it says. The web-based application Central Ohio River Information System, which displays individual port information, will be expanded.

There will be no formal presentation at Tuesday’s meeting, but numerous alternatives will be displayed, the release says.

The preferred alternative includes construction of a full restricted crossing U-turns at Veto Road and Gravel Bank Road. An interchange would be constructed at northern Blue Knob Road. Southern Blue Knob Road would remain open, and Gravel Bank and Blue Knob roads would be improved.

All alternatives can be viewed online at https://tinyurl.com/5n7a5puk.

In addition to allowing for more efficient movement of traffic, restricted crossing U-turn intersections can reduce the total number of conflict points by up to 50%, limiting collision opportunities and, typically, the severity of such collisions, the release says.

Comments can be submitted via the project website, email, phone or mail until Dec. 19 to Matthew First, P.E., 338 Muskingum Drive, Marietta, OH 45750; 740-568-3945 and Matthew.First@dot.ohio.gov.

Those unable to access the meeting can obtain additional information by contacting First.