Staff photo / Ashley Fox The new state Route 164 interchange in Beaver Township was open for traffic Wednesday, with the goal of alleviating traffic congestion on Western Reserve Road.

BEAVER — Motorists can now use a new $11.6 million interchange at Interstate 680 and state Route 164.

Officials had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning marking completion of the project.

Calling the project “very unique” due to its funding and traffic patterns, Gery Noirot, Ohio Department of Transportation District 4 deputy director, said that the three-phase construction will relieve traffic congestion along Route 164 going north to Western Reserve Road.

The project began in April 2018 and is 95 percent complete, according to Justin Chesnic, an ODOT spokesman.

Completion should be by mid-2020, and will include road striping and the addition of a park and ride site, the latter of which should not affect traffic, Chesnic said.

According to ODOT, the Route 164 interchange will allow vehicles to use I-680 as an alternative to travel in and out of Beaver Township.

Motorists will now be able to stay on the interstate, bypassing the Western Reserve Road exit, using the Route 164 interchange.

The three-phase project at $11.6 million was funded by five sources: ODOT Preservation, ODOT Safety, Transportation Review Advisory Council, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, and the Ohio Turnpike Commission.

Included in the project is: widening of Route 164 southbound from I-680 to state Route 626; the addition of a roundabout at the intersection of Route 164 and 626; and the rebuilding and widening of the Route 164 bridge that goes above the Ohio Turnpike.

Instead of using Western Reserve Road, motorists are now anticipated to use I-680 to get to Beaver Township.

While the project was designed as an alternative route, engineers also kept the future of Beaver in mind in the designing phase.

“It’s also going to open this area up for economic development,” Mahoning County Engineer Pat Ginnetti said, adding that future projects are in the works.

“This project as a whole is going to be a good thing for this area,” he added.

While celebrating the interchange, the roundabout was also celebrated.

ODOT’s Noirot explained that a “normal” intersection has 32 conflict points, while a roundabout has eight. “That right there, that’s why they are safer.”

The roundabout in Beaver follows the first in Mahoning County at Mathews Road and Sheridan Road in Boardman.

The third roundabout in Mahoning County, located on Western Reserve at the Five Points area, will be the third in the county.