Planning to take I-280 to or through Toledo this weekend? Make another plan.
Beginning at 9 p.m. tomorrow and continuing until 6 a.m. Monday, the freeway will be closed for construction associated with the Maumee River Crossing project.
The critical work responsible for the weekend shutdown is demolition of a CSX railroad overpass between Starr and Navarre avenues, but Joe Rutherford, an Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman in Bowling Green, said hardhats will swarm like ants at several other locations to seize the traffic-free moment.
The freeway will be blocked at State Rt. 795 for northbound traffic and at I-75 for southbound traffic, with through traffic detoured via Route 795 and I-75. ODOT had to set the detour up that way to keep heavy trucks off downtown Toledo streets, Mr. Rutherford said.
The closing will complicate an already difficult situation downtown, where the Martin Luther King, Jr., Bridge is restricted to one lane each way for reconstruction.
Though ODOT announced the I-280 closing two weeks ago, Toledo police Sgt. Paul Kerschbaum said no formal notice was given to the department.
“We won't be doing anything [like extra traffic patrols] unless ODOT asks us to,” the sergeant said.
The southbound lanes will be open throughout the weekend from Navarre Avenue south, while northbound traffic will be allowed to enter I-280 at and north of Front Street beginning at 7 a.m. Sunday.
The railroad overpass to be demolished will be replaced afterward with a bridge long enough to span six freeway lanes. The longer structure thus will accommodate a two-lane I-280 widening that is part of a $300 million modernization program featuring the new river bridge. Trains were shifted over to a temporary bridge last month.
This weekend, the old railroad bridge's steel beams will be dismantled and its abutments and center pier will be taken down - work that cannot be done with traffic passing through, Mr. Rutherford said.
ODOT's alternative to closing I-280 this weekend, he said, would be to close it for a series of nights, but that would create a lot of confusion about when the freeway is open. As of yesterday, he said, the weather forecast looked favorable to get the work done this weekend - it isn't expected to rain, and cold won't affect the demolition work.
“This closure is not something we just decided to do arbitrarily,” Mr. Rutherford said, adding: “Traffic volumes are lower on the weekend, and it's beyond the tourist season when people would be going to Cedar Point.”
While Miller Brothers, the widening contractor, has its crews working at the railroad bridge, Fru-Con, Inc., which is building the Maumee River Crossing, will use the 57-hour work window to drill more foundation shafts for the main bridge's approach piers. Several of those shafts will be drilled in the median of existing I-280. Pavement repairs and maintenance work on the Craig Memorial Bridge are planned throughout the weekend as well.
“Anything we can get done will get done,” Mr. Rutherford said.
Gary Wyse, general manager of the Toledo Sports Arena, said he wasn't contacted about scheduling for the I-280 shutdown, but it so happens that no major events will occur at the arena this weekend - nor are any high school football playoff games scheduled in the city.
“It is kind of fortunate, but people would have found alternate routes if they needed to,” Mr. Wyse said.
Blade staff writer Christina Hall contributed to this report.
First Published November 14, 2002, 7:16 p.m.
