The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Say goodbye to those orange barrels
Lorain and North Ridgeville had two of the year’s largest highway projects in 2020, and they are winding down.
Lorain and North Ridgeville had two of the year’s largest highway projects in 2020, and they are winding down.
The major rehabilitation of the Charles Berry Bascule Bridge in Lorain is almost finished.
The widening of Center Ridge Road in North Ridgeville will continue with the final paving in 2021, but the end of that project is in sight.
Each job spanned several years and topped $26 million in cost.
Center Ridge Road
The Ohio Department of Transportation, in partnership with the city of North Ridgeville, were overseeing reconstruction and widening of U.S. 20 from Stoney Ridge Road to Lear Nagle Road.
The street also is known as Center Ridge Road.
The new roadway will have five lanes instead of three.
There are new storm sewers and water lines underground, new sidewalks, a new shared use path on the south side of the street, new traffic signals and two new bridges that carry Route 20 and Root Road over French Creek.
Residents are ready for the construction to end, but as of mid-November, the project looks better than it has in two years, said North Ridgeville Mayor Kevin Corcoran.
The job schedule was changed to complete the final top coat of asphalt in spring 2021, with completion by next June.
Much of the work outside the road is done, including the sidewalks, driveway aprons and the 10-foot-wide
walking trail on the south side, Corcoran said.
“It’s coming to an end,” he said. “All those things have been completed now, and people can see progress with dirt filled in, in some areas that have been under construction for several years, and now grass growing in those areas. Just the look of the project has improved a great deal.
“Unfortunately though, because the road part isn’t finished, there will still be barrels out to protect the new curbs that they put in. They don’t want those to get damaged by any plows over the winter time, so the barrels will still stay mainly as a protective device.”
The lanes generally are configured how they will be permanently, which creates better traffic flow, Corcoran said.
Residents and businesses are getting better road access now, he said.
“There’s a lot of reasons to be happy with where we’re at right now,” Corcoran said.
“Obviously, there’s still the disappointment that we’re not finished, but I think everybody can see that we’re closer than ever before.”
Crews will continue installing light poles and other work that can be done in winter temperatures, he said.
The road widening, which began in March 2018, experienced significant utility delays early on, which pushed back the original completion date of November 2020, said Crystal Neelon, spokeswoman at ODOT’s District 3 headquarters in Ashland.
“We went into the 2020 construction season anticipating the project being significantly completed by the end of the construction season, but knowing there would be items that carried over into 2021,” Neelon said. “The contractor was able to accelerate their work on the project and made great progress this year.”
Neelon confirmed the
crews will continue with winter work, weather permitting.
Bascule Bridge
For Lorain, ODOT and its contractors are finishing a major overhaul of the span that carries U.S. Route 6 over the Black River near Lake Erie.
“We are anticipating this project wrapping up in the next few weeks,” Neelon said. “We have one remaining item, a staircase, that still needs to be delivered and installed … and then we can wrap up this project.”
The staircase will replace one that sat near the Ariel Broadway Hotel and created a shortcut from the bridge down to Black River Landing.
ODOT staff were anticipating delivery the week of Nov. 15, with two weeks planned for installation, Neelon said.
More work
Drivers on state Route 2 near Lorain and Amherst have seen single lane closures between Oak Point Road and state Route 58.
Lane closures will continue until the end of November.
“Crews are finishing up pavement repairs before wrapping up work for the winter,” Neelon said. “They will be back to complete the project in next year’s construction season.”
There are three other pavement areas on Route 20, state Route 254 and state Route 301 which will be finished by the end of the month, she said.
Those areas currently do not have traffic effects such as lane closures.
Finishing up
Abbe Road in and around Sheffield Lake had repairs and resurfacing that started in 2019 and finished this year, according to ODOT’s plans.
The agency also oversaw the resurfacing of state Route 83 for the entire length in North Ridgeville this year.
Sheffield Village also had a repaving project on Abbe Road this year.
Just north of there in Avon, crews put down new pavement on state Route 83 from the city line to Mills Road.
Also in Avon, t wo stretches of Route 254, which is Detroit Road, got new pavement this year.
South of Wellington, the Findley State Park Main Road got new pavement in 2020.