I-75 construction has cost in history for Lockland

For anyone who spends a lot of time struck in traffic on Interstate 75 between Evendale and Downtown, help is on the way. The Ohio Department of Transportation is beginning work on a fourth lane, but it comes at a historic cost.  The project involves rebuilding the current highway and adding a new lane northbound and southbound, according to ODOT spokesperson Brian Cunningham. Work has already begun between Glendale-Milford Road and Shepherd Lane. The $90 million project makes up the first two phases of the "Thru the Valley" project. Click here for more information. "Right now, the traffic volumes on 75 are extremely high," Cunningham said. "The residual effect of that: there are more crashes, takes longer, congestion levels are higher." The construction also runs through Lockland, which got its name for being home to four locks along the Miami and Erie Canal, until it became the footprint for southbound I-75.  "We like to see progress, but not at the expense of us," Lockland Mayor Jim Brown said. "Seems like it's always us that takes the brunt of it." Original walls from the canal will remain in place. But walls on the other side will go, as well as about 50 houses, according to Brown. "The hurt is from losing the houses, and the construction we're going to have to put up with for the next three, four years," he said. The silver lining is a hope the improved highway will bring new development to the area.  "We've got a lot of vacant land that's ready for development," Brown said.