NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio -- About 100 unhappy North Ridgeville residents came to the Academic Center Nov. 19 to hear Ohio Department of Transportation representatives explain why the Center Ridge Road project will take another year -- maybe more.
ODOT’S reasons -- some said excuses -- brought back memories: It was December 2017, and Mayor David Gillock was expressing his excitement about the project and what it would mean to the city.
“I can’t wait to get it done,” he said. Back then, he called it a “dream” project.
“This has needed to be done for years,” he said then. “It will be a boon to economic development down Center Ridge Road and will make travel safer. We have been working on it since December of 2003. A lot of people said it would never happen, but we’re there.”
“There” meant the winning bidder for the project had been chosen: Fechko Excavating LLC of Medina. Gillock’s optimism and hope for the project were out in front. “Hopefully, we will have it done before school begins in the fall of 2018,” he said.
That date came and went, and the project is still ongoing.
Cost for the entire ODOT project was to be about $60 million, according to Gillock. The city’s portion was to be about $2.7 million.
Since then, residents have lived with a massive disruption to traffic, while business owners have tried to adjust to the absence of customers. Through it all, though, spirits were high, as everyone bought into the worth of the project and the reliability of the people who would build it. Work was moving forward.
That is, except for internet services provider Windstream, which needed to move its infrastructure to make way for the roadwork.
At the recent public meeting, an ODOT representative termed the missed deadlines as “utility delays,” but admitted that “there were conflicts with the company (Windstream) immediately after work began.”
In fact, he said, this project “was one of the worst delays we have had during my career working for ODOT.”
Windstream did not return calls seeking comment for this story.
Gillock was calm before the ODOT meeting began. Perhaps it was because, in his 16 years as mayor, he has seen a lot of projects come and go, be delayed and then completed. But this one, he said, is going to cost the city more due to the delays. The amount won’t be known until all the charges come in, but he “guesstimated” the additional expense could be $2 million.
Fran and Gerry Wilhelm were present for the meeting. As with many residents attending, they shook their heads at the information, which was really nothing they hadn’t heard before.
Fran spoke of the frustration people expressed when calls to ODOT were not returned as the project progressed -- then stalled. The Wilhelms, and others, suggested that the crews work at night, but were told that the city has an ordinance regarding night noise.
Other answers the audience received included that businesses cannot be reimbursed for losses, and that signs had to be moved from businesses in some locations, but the city is aware and is working to help them.
Some complained that it has been taking them 20 to 30 minutes just to get out of their homes in developments off of Center Ridge Road.
The ODOT representatives and the mayor both said that Windstream is finally progressing on its part, which was behind everyone else.
Projections for completion of the long-delayed road project are now sometime between September and November 2020, although work such as final seeding and cleanup won’t be finished until early 2021.
Some additional 30-day detours are expected on at least a half-dozen nearby streets, and there will be some road closures that will be given seven to 14 days’ advance notice. Access to businesses will be maintained, and when there is work to be done on some of the driveways, residents will be given seven to 10 days’ notice.
ODOT even has a website dedicated to the project. Residents can check it out at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D03/Pages/LOR-US-20-.aspx.
So, another year is about to end and another will soon begin. Perhaps the Center Ridge Road “dream” will finally be fulfilled.
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