A project to improve a well-traveled intersection just southwest of the city of Delaware will lead to about a month of road closures.

A project to improve a well-traveled intersection just southwest of the city of Delaware will lead to about a month of road closures.

The Ohio Department of Transportation will begin its project Monday, Sept. 22, to install left-turn lanes at the eastern and western legs of U.S. Route 42 at its intersection with South Section Line Road.

"The turn lanes are both for safety and improving the flow of traffic," ODOT District 6 spokeswoman Breanna Badanes said.

The project also will include improvements to guardrails, pavement and traffic signals at the Concord Township intersection.

"Concrete pavement is being placed on (Route) 42 due to the large volume of truck traffic because (the concrete is) more rigid than asphalt," Badanes said.

ODOT will not add turn lanes to Section Line Road as part of the project.

Starting Sept. 22, Route 42 will be closed east of the intersection, while Section Line Road will be closed north of the intersection. The southern and western legs of the intersection will remain open.

Those closures are expected to remain in place for two weeks.

Fourteen days into the project, the closed legs of the intersections are expected to reopen. At that time, Route 42 west of the intersection and Section Line Road south of the intersection will close for an expected 14 days.

ODOT expects to complete the project by Oct. 17. The contractor, Columbus-based Double Z Construction, will be given a $5,000-per-day bonus -- up to $25,000 total -- if it finishes the project early.

The company will owe ODOT $5,000 per day if the project runs over its deadline.

The entire project is expected to cost about $725,000, according to ODOT.

ODOT will post detour signs during the closures, advising drivers to use state Route 257 and U.S. Route 36 to bypass the intersection.