CHESAPEAKE — Seven property owners in the eastern end of Lawrence County have contacted the Ohio Department of Transportation, wanting ODOT to buy their land to turn it into part of the second phase of the Chesapeake Bypass. These are the first negotiations for the $94 million second phase of the bypass project that will connect the first phase at Proctorville with U.S. 52.

“There are no offers on the table,” said Kathleen Fuller, public information office for District 9 of ODOT. “They are going through the detailed appraisal process.”

Right now the project is still undergoing design work and has been scaled back from its original $150-to-$180 million price tag.

“We did not change the footprint of the project,” Fuller said. “We did take it back and look at it as regards toslopes and slides.”

A large portion of the Proctorville phase had to be re-engineered because of slippage problems.

“Phase One had 20 plus slides and we want to do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Fuller said. “We are trying to make sure with the design process that we don’t have a significant number of slides. It is tweaking it, not changing the footprint of the project.”

For decades supporters of the connector have pushed for the project with the ultimate goal of providing a faster and more direct route between Huntington, W.Va., and areas east with U.S. 52., outside of Ironton.

When ODOT built the first phase, it acquired 133 parcels with only 19 through eminent domain. Total purchase price for real estate was $28,610,000.

For this phase ODOT has about $4 million for initial acquisitions.

“There are no offers,” Fuller said. “Everything is being reviewed. It will be a slow process.”