Orange barrels right on schedule

by JASON HAWK

News-Times reporter

Anyone who's been uptown in the past week knows the meaning of the term "bumper to bumper."

Traffic has been piled deep along Rt. 58 between North Ridge and the Lorain border for nearly a week as crews started repairing humps in the highway's asphalt and rainwater catch basins underneath.

The work is set to wrap up by Aug. 20, four days before buses will once again roll students to school.

"We recognize that it's an inconvenience, but if you want to be able to use the roads it's going to mean some waiting," mayor David Taylor said. "We're doing the best we can."

He said catch basins need replaced because they're crumbling and not catching rainwater, which can lead to back-ups and water-filled roads.

They will take two to three weeks to finish, after which many of the construction barrels now cutting into the flow of traffic will be removed.

Many of those pylons will have to remain much longer, however, to route vehicles around a massive ramp-widening project by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Off-ramps from Rt. 2 to Rt. 58 are getting a $1.03 million overhaul by the state. ODOT District 3 spokesman Brian Stacy said the eastbound ramp will be widened to two lanes and the westbound ramp will have three by the time construction finishes in mid-October.

Karvo Paving of Cuyahoga Falls, which is doing the work, has been closing the westbound ramp each night at 9 p.m. since Saturday, but regular traffic there resumes tonight.

One lane will be kept open most days by flaggers, but Stacy said to expect periodic closures on both ramps throughout the project. Construction is slated to happen overnight so daytime travelers won't be hampered by large machinery on the road.

ODOT will also re-time traffic lights at the foot of each ramp to move vehicles through the intersection faster.

The state also plans to replace the Rt. 2 overpass at Oberlin Road, resulting in a long detour around the bridge.

That project was slated to start July 5, but has been pushed back.

Also waiting to get its start is a resurfacing push on Cleveland Street from Rt. 58 to Washington Avenue.

Taylor said he expects work there to begin by the end of the month, but it must wait for official notice from the state to proceed because Ohio Issue 1 funding covers part of the tab.

That job has been awarded to Precision Paving of Milan, the same company smoothing asphalt on Rt. 58, and is also supposed to be completed on or before Aug. 20, he said.

The remainder of the stretch -- from Washington Avenue to South Main Street -- is on the 2011 docket.

Amherst police Lt. Joseph Kucirek said drivers should be especially careful in construction areas for their safety and the safety of the workers.

"Slow down, be patient, and take your time. October will be here before you know it," he said.