Officials celebrate completion of Thayer Road project

LIMA - Thayer Road is no longer an obstacle for drivers going between Reservoir Road and state Route 81.

Allen County Tim Piper celebrated the grand opening of Thayer Road between Reservoir Road and state Route 81 today. A brief ribbon-cutting ceremony also took place.

The construction of the new Procter & Gamble Company Distribution Center was the catalyst for the road improvement project. With the P&G site just east of Thayer Road on Reservoir Road, many thought it necessary for Thayer Road to be improved to increase the safety of the vehicular traffic, especially semi-trucks.

"We just initially thought, ‘If it's important to P&G, it's important to our community,'" Allen County Commissioner Greg Sneary said.

The project construction took place in two phases, the first of which was finished in 2006. At the conclusion of phase two, the pavement has been widen by 4 feet, the right-of-way has been widened by 20 feet, and the vertical alignment of the roadway has been redesigned to take out the major peaks and valleys.

Allen County received an Ohio Department of Development Grant for $2 million for the entire Thayer Road improvement project. Upon completion, total project costs rounded out to $1.75 million, coming in well under budget.

Read more about this story in Saturday's The Lima News.