This past spring construction began on ODOT
project 626(08), Seasons Road Interchange, to
help promote development in northern Summit
County between the Stow and Hudson border. Four
new ramps and a reconstructed Seasons Road will
tie into SR 8 to allow direct access to this area.
As is customary with soils in this region, it has
made the project unique in terms of treating
the subsurface conditions. The new diamond
interchange lies adjacent to large wetlands
with underlying organic material. The new
southbound entrance ramp required 4,000 wick
drains installed 28 feet through an aggregate
drainage blanket to maintain the 4-month
settlement period called for in the plans.
Piezometers were installed to monitor soil pore
pressure while constructing the embankment/
surcharge. Fills had to be placed at a controlled
rate so as not to exceed pre-determined PSF
limits. Independence earthwork crews had to
carefully plan their work to stay within these
limits while also maximizing the productivity of
the Cat 385 excavator loading operation.
In addition to challenging soil conditions on the
ramps, ODOT will close Seasons Road for 120
days to have 1,900' of existing road completely
reconstructed. Approximately 20,000 cubic
yards of granular type D material, sized 8" will be
utilized to bridge over soft sub-grades, and the
asphalt road will be widened to accommodate
turn lanes for the interchange. Once the grading
and drainage work is complete, the 25' wide
ramps will receive 10" of concrete paving where
they will meet the existing SR 8 lanes. Various
other project improvements include lighting and
signage upgrades for all the ramps.
Independence would like to thank ODOT District
4 personnel Bulent Bilgin, Tony Pamer, Jim
McCleary with the City of Stow, and all of our
subcontractors involved with this necessary
highway improvement.
