Ohio
Looking for Ohio’s most expensive road projects of 2025? Why we have to wait to find out
Work continues on major highway construction projects
Work continues on major highway construction projects including I-70, I-71, I-270 and US Rt. 23 interchanges
Ohio road construction is a year-round reality, which makes sense when the Ohio Department of Transportation has to maintain more than 43,000 miles of highway.
Yet some projects, such as the plan to widen U.S. Route 33 near Columbus, are bigger than others.
What are the 10 most expensive ODOT projects of 2025? We won’t know the real answer for a few more months. Here’s why.
Why we have to wait to learn which road projects are Ohio’s most expensive in 2025
Visit ODOT’s projects page and you’ll see a slew of big-money construction projects on the agenda.
Some, such as the Brent Spence Bridge corridor construction in Cincinnati or the Interstate 70 and I-71 work in downtown Columbus, have costs that run to $1 billion or more. Even planned work with lower project costs have price tags that soar well into nine figures.
However, coming up with a definitive list of Ohio’s most expensive road projects at the start of the year is virtually impossible.
Why?
Well, you can partly blame the winter weather in the Buckeye State.
There are basically two ODOT seasons during the year – snow and ice removal, and construction season. Most construction projects don’t ramp up until the spring when the weather warms. That’s when ODOT bidding is over and project costs are finalized, according to Mat Bruning, press secretary for the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The Daniel Carter Beard Bridge in downtown Cincinnati is an exception to the winter construction rule. A fire underneath the bridge Nov. 1 caused severe structural damage, but it could reopen sooner than expected as ODOT takes special measures to move repairs along.
“We’re doing things differently to pour concrete in December and January than we would in June and July,” Bruning said.
Bruning also said the ideal temperatures to pour asphalt are 50 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. ODOT can cold patch potholes in the winter, but the materials and equipment are better suited for warmer temps that Ohio usually doesn’t have in the winter.
So if you want to see the most expensive ODOT projects of 2025, you’ll have to wait until the weather warms and the bids are finalized before construction workers break out the orange cones in Ohio.
Aerial video shows fire damage to Daniel Carter Beard Bridge
Drone video shows damages done to the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge by a massive fire. The damages caused a total closure of Interstate 471.
The Oregon Ducks have secured 18 signees so far to add to their 2026 recruiting class. However, some coaching changes at the Ducks’ Big Ten Conference rivals could lead to a flip, and some of Oregon’s current stars are putting on the pressure.
Five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr., who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 athlete in his position and No. 1 in his home state of California, announced on social media he’s delaying his letter of intent signing to the Ohio State Buckeyes due to “coaching changes.” The decision is considered to be in reaction to Ohio State offensive coordinator and former wide receivers coach Brian Hartline leaving to become the head coach at USF.
Recenlty, star Oregon freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore posted onto social media, “Need you by my side,” and tagged Henry Jr. in an effort to recruit the fellow five-star. Moore also reposted ESPN’s coverage of his own post with the caption “History in the making” onto Instagram in yet another push for a potential Henry r. flip to Oregon.
Moore Pushes Some More
If those two posts didn’t already communicate Moore wants Henry to bring his talents to Eugene, the third highest yardage receiver on the Ducks (443 yards on the season while missing the last four games due to injury) also posted on his X account “God got you family” in direct response to Henry’s announcement of delaying his signing.
Who Else Joined the Party
Other Ducks jumping on the Henry Jr. recruiting party online is true freshman wide receiver Jordon Davison, who’s become the go-to guy for touchdowns throughout the season in his first year. Davison, a former Mater Dei teammate of Henry Jr., directly tagged the Ohio State commit with a post saying, “run it back.”
@ChrisHenryJr run it back!💯
— Jordon Davison (@Jord0n2) December 3, 2025
Class of 2026 committed running back Tradarian Ball also put out some support for Henry flipping, saying “Come join the family.”
In response to Henry’s announcement, several Oregon fans have flocked to the comments, encouraging the Mater Dei High School senior to consider joining the Ducks. Oregon’s fan base is notoriously one of the larger online presences for recruiting efforts.
Don’t count out the Buckeyes, as wide receiver Jeremiah Smith replied “WE NEED YOU!!!!” to Henry’s post. The message was reposted by Buckeye quarterback Julian Sayin.
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The Latest on Henry
According to Rivals, the Texas Longhorns put in a substantial NIL offer to land Henry Jr. while Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s relationship with Henry continues to keep the Ducks in the race.
Interestingly, Oregon has a similar predicament to Ohio State with Ducks offensive coordinator Will Stein getting hired to be the next head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. Where the situations differ, however, is that Hartline started recruiting Henry Jr. as his position coach before becoming the Buckeyes wide receiver. Oregon wide receivers coach Ross Douglas was hired in February 2025 and there are no indications of him leaving soon.
Brian Hartline is expected to be hired as the next head coach at South Florida, according to multiple reports published on Dec. 3.
Hartline has been the wide receivers coach for the Buckeyes throughout coach Ryan Day’s tenure and the primary offensive coordinator and play-caller this season.
A former wide receiver for the Buckeyes who went on to play seven seasons in the NFL, most of them with the Miami Dolphins, he first joined the staff as a quality control coach in 2017 before taking over as the position coach.
Hartline has been well regarded for his development of wide receivers as the Buckeyes have seen five of them taken in the first round of the NFL draft over the last four years.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow along on Bluesky, Instagram and X for more.
Michigan football’s shot at a playoff bid is virtually over.
The Wolverines fell four spots to No. 19 in the penultimate rankings from the College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday, three days after losing, 27-9, to No. 1 Ohio State.
A win over the Buckeyes and Michigan would have had a case to make the 12-team field. Sherrone Moore’s team, now 9-3, was ranked 15th last week.
Michigan will not play another game before the final CFP rankings are unveiled on Sunday, making it nearly impossible to reach the playoff this year. The Wolverines fell to 18th this week in the Associated Press Top 25 and US LBM coaches’ polls.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes held on to the No. 1 spot this week, followed by Indiana at No. 2. Georgia jumped up to No. 3 after Texas A&M lost to Texas.
Also moving up one spot this week is Texas Tech (No. 4), Oregon (No. 5) and Ole Miss (No. 6). A&M fell to 7.
There was also some movement at the bottom of the top 10, where Alabama rose one spot to No. 9. Notre Dame fell to No. 10.
On the bubble, BYU is holding serve at No. 11 with Miami at No. 12.
A fifth Big Ten team, Southern Cal, was also ranked this week at No. 16. But like the Wolverines, USC is 9-3 and without another game to play.
This weekend is championship weekend, a pivotal stretch of games to determine the five automatic qualifiers. Under the 12-team format, the five highest-ranked conference champions will be admitted, with the seven highest-ranked teams next in line.
The top four ranked teams, regardless of league champion status, will receive first-round byes.
As for the postseason, Michigan is projected to play in the Dec. 31 Citrus Bowl, the Big Ten’s highest-profile, non-playoff game.
This week’s College Football Playoff rankings:
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Georgia
- Texas Tech
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- Notre Dame
- BYU
- Miami (Fla.)
- Texas
- Vanderbilt
- Utah
- Southern California
- Virginia
- Arizona
- Michigan
- Tulane
- Houston
- Georgia Tech
- Iowa
- North Texas
- James Madison
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