Residents to contend with bridge closure/detour

by Dan Holland

A closure of East Edgerton Road between Broadview Road and Barr Road went into effect June 20, as the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission plans to replace bridge decking along the roadway that crosses over the turnpike. The city of Broadview Heights is also repaving the stretch of road during the closure.

A marked detour directs drivers to make use of Barr Road, Broadview Road and Oakes Road.

The project to repave the 4,500-foot stretch of road surface on East Edgerton from Broadview Road to the city’s eastern border with Brecksville is expected to take between three and four weeks, according to Broadview Heights City Engineer Gary Yelenosky, which includes the time the road has to cure between the base asphalt layer and the new asphalt courses. Traffic will be maintained for residents during the repaving process.

Cuyahoga County will be paying half of the estimated $450,000 repaving cost as part of its 50/50 Roads Program funding grant for the stretch of road, which received an “F” grade-rating this spring during an evaluation of all city roadways. Work will be performed by Specialized Construction.

“We will be using cold-in-place recycling, which recycles the existing asphalt and mixes in emulsion and additional aggregate to increase the strength of the asphalt base layer,” explained Yelenosky. “Once the recycling is complete, we will allow the road to cure and add an additional three inches of new asphalt on top. The major benefit is the increase in strength of the base layer.”

The method provides a substantial cost savings over traditional asphalt repaving techniques, and it has been used in the city in the past for repaving projects on Avery Road, Harris Road and Sprague Road, according to Service Director David Schroedel.

The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission awarded work for the replacement of the bridge deck on East Edgerton to Great Lakes Construction Company as part of a larger project, which also includes replacement of a bridge deck on Brecksville Road over the Ohio Turnpike in Richfield, with a total budget of $5.2 million.

Temporary lane closures on the turnpike below will be in place during the length of the project, which is expected to last until November 2023, according to Charles Cyrill, Public Information Officer for the Ohio Turnpike. A total cost will not be available until the project is completed, he added.

“The East Edgerton bridge deck project is required because the existing deck needs to be replaced,” said Cyrill via email. “When the bridge replacement is complete, it will improve the safety and rideability for motorists traveling on East Edgerton Road.”

The bridge work is being done as part of the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission’s $233 million budget for improvement projects in 2022. ∞