DEFIANCE — The Ohio Department of Transportation is giving renewed consideration to closing a major bridge in Defiance to all traffic during its upcoming reconstruction instead of maintaining travel lanes.

The project, scheduled to start in 2019, will be the subject of a public meeting Tuesday evening at Defiance College.

ODOT officials said during public meetings about their plans last year that closing the bridge to all traffic would only reduce construction time from 24 months to 18 — not enough to get it done in one construction season instead of two.

But Kirk Slusher, the department’s district deputy director in Lima, said under ideal weather conditions — particularly if the Maumee River doesn’t flood — the new bridge could be built significantly faster if traffic weren’t maintained.

“If we have fantastic weather, it would be possible to get it done in one year,” Mr. Slusher said.

ODOT received numerous requests from the community to explain the advantages and disadvantages of closing the bridge, which carries State Rts. 15, 18, and 66 across the Maumee River, during its replacement, the deputy director said, and that’s what ODOT and representatives of an engineering consultant, Columbus-based Burgess & Niple, will do Tuesday.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in Defiance College’s Schomburg Auditorium, 701 N. Clinton St.

After a 30-day public comment period, ODOT expects to announce a decision in mid-October about plans to proceed with the project’s design and construction phasing.

Were the bridge to be closed, traffic would have to detour either east of Defiance to the State Rt. 281 bridge or west to U.S. 24 to cross the Maumee.

First Published September 12, 2016, 4:00 a.m.