Southbound Harvard ramps, Bellows Street scheduled to close at 7 pm this Sunday

(ODOT)ROSEBURG – The southbound Interstate 5 on- and off-ramps at the Harvard interchange (Exit 124) will be closed for two weeks starting at 7 p.m. on Sunday, August 11. The south end of Bellows Street will be closed at the same time. Prime contractor Knife River Materials will begin setting up detour signs and traffic control devices around 5 p.m. on Sunday, two hours ahead of the closures. All northbound ramps will remain open, as will the main Roseburg High School entrance. The southbound ramps and Bellows Street are scheduled to re-open by Sunday, August 25. The closures will allow Knife River to excavate and rebuild the ramps and Bellows Street. During the closures, detours will be in place. Harvard Avenue motorists will take I-5 north to Exit 125 (Garden Valley), then turn around to reach southbound I-5. Meanwhile, motorists traveling south on I-5 will continue to Exit 123 (Fairgrounds) and turn around to reach the northbound off-ramp at the Harvard interchange. Bellows Street serves a neighborhood of about 25 houses north of Roseburg High School. When the south end of Bellows is closed, residents of that neighborhood will detour through the high school parking lot to reach Harvard Avenue. Some sidewalks will be closed during construction. Alternate routes will be identified and marked for pedestrians, including those with disabilities. This $1.9 million project will install new traffic signals on both sides of the Harvard interchange, realign the intersection of the southbound ramps and Bellows Street with Harvard Avenue, add turn lanes, and make several other safety and pedestrian improvements. Construction began in May and will continue until October. Most work that affects traffic will take place during the summer months, before the new school year starts.