Garfield Road over I-90 set to close

Construction that will close a Mentor artery for about a month soon will start, now that spring classes are winding down at Lakeland Community College.

Beginning May 22, crews will close Garfield Road over Interstate 90 between Route 84 and Chillicothe Road for an estimated 30 days in order to perform bridge deck overlay operations to replace the surface.

“By doing this, we extend the life of the entire bridge deck,” said Amanda McFarland, Ohio Department of Transportation District 12 spokeswoman. “The last time we replaced the

wearing surface was in approximately 1990.”

The work is among four ODOT bridge projects totaling about $1.4 million.

The others are Route 44 north ramp to Route 2 west in Painesville Township — completed last fall — and two under way in Cuyahoga County: Interstate 490 west ramp to Interstate 71 south and West Seventh Street over I-490.

The Garfield Road work had been scheduled to begin prior to the Route 2 ramp. However, it was postponed after Lakeland officials raised concerns.

“Lakeland Community College felt that closing access to their main entrance on Garfield Road would be a hardship on students going to class,” Mentor Engineer Dave Swiger said.

The average daily traffic count for that stretch is about 1,000 vehicles.

The project initially was to be moved to July of this year.

“The closure was postponed until after the conclusion of the Lakeland Spring Session, which ends May 12, to minimize impacts to the majority of student motorists,” Swiger said.

“This is acceptable to the city.”

Lakeland’s Garfield entrance still will be accessible from Route 615/Chillicothe Road going north on Garfield, said school Spokeswoman Jessica Novak.