Motorists using U.S. 52 will not escape orange barrel season this spring and summer as the colorful invaders from the Ohio Department of Transportation land in Lawrence County for another six-month stay.

Starting Monday a six-mile stretch of U.S. 52 between State Route 650 in Hanging Rock and the eastern corporation limit of Coal Grove will be reduced to one lane in each direction for continued reconstruction of the bridges and resurfacing.

Kathleen Fuller, public information officer for ODOT’s Region 9, said most of the final bridge work will be concentrated between State Route 141 and Coal Grove.

When completed, it will allow resurfacing of the entire stretch of roadway to commence, she said.

This continues a multi-million dollar preservation project started in June 2008 that included bridge repair and road resurfacing. The first phase ended in September which reopened the roadway back to two-lanes in each direction for the winter months.

Again for 2009, the roadway between the 5-mile marker, just east of State Route 650 and the 11-mile marker east of Coal Grove will be reduced to one, 12-foot lane with an 11.5-foot width restriction at the State Route 141 and State Route 243 interchanges.

Along with single-lane traffic, speed limit in the construction zone will be reduced to 45 miles-per-hour.

As with any construction site in Ohio, all speeding offenses carry a double fine penalty should they be committed within a construction zone.

Fuller listed August 31, 2009 as a scheduled completion date.