Gypsum man dies in crash near Bono curve
9/27/2006BONO, Ohio - A 50-year-old man was killed early yesterday in a one-vehicle crash just east of the Bono curve in eastern Lucas County, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.
Larry Appleman of Gypsum, Ohio, was eastbound on State Rt. 2 just west of Bono about 3:40 a.m. when the pickup he was driving drifted off the road and struck a traffic sign, then a telephone pole, troopers said. He was flown to Toledo Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival, troopers said.
No other vehicles were involved. The crash remains under investigation.
The Bono curve is one of two 90-degree turns on what is otherwise an arrow-straight highway from Oregon to the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ottawa County.
The curve has been the scene of numerous crashes over the years, most involving motorists who failed to round it successfully and ran off the road or collided with oncoming traffic.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is coordinating a $3.88 million improvement project to widen shoulders from 4 feet to 10 feet, partly in response to the high number of crashes.
In addition, the eastbound left-turn lane at Bono Road is being widened, and turn lanes are being added in both directions at Veler Road and eastbound at Main and Water streets.
Begun in May and originally scheduled for completion this month, the project has been delayed extensively by wet weather, ODOT spokesman Andrea Voogd said. While most construction will be completed by November, she said, final paving of all lanes in the work area won't occur until next spring.
The reconstruction of Route 2 at the Bono curve will require closing the road to westbound traffic for about a month beginning Monday, Ms. Voogd said.
During the closing, westbound Route 2 traffic will be detoured via State Rts. 579 and 51. Eastbound traffic still will be able to use Route 2.