OREGON, Ohio — Something folks can all relate to is it seeming like there's a lot of road projects being worked on at once, regardless of where you are in our area.
In some places, all those projects can leave drivers in a bind and starting next week, the roads in one part of town will be even more heavily restricted.
Starting Monday, likely through September 20, Otter Creek Road will be closed between Corduroy Road and York Street.
The closure is necessary to perform an emergency pipeline repair to fix a petroleum finished product line, and legally has to be done within a certain period of time.
The work zone goes from just south of the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks to Corduroy Road.
Trains already bog down traffic in the area, and the suggested access via Corduroy won't work for everyone.
"Most of all I hope that it doesn't interfere with funeral services because you can't get in, you know if they close this road up, I don't know how they're going to get in because the only way to get back to our cemetery is to get in these drives, you can't get in the back of our cemetery from here," said Jack Fry the Superintendent of Beth Shalom.
With work being done on nearby York Road and through the area of Front and Millard, this leaves those who travel that way without a lot of options.
The City of Toledo and Port Authority are trying to ease congestion from the east Toledo side.
At the roundabout by Cleveland Cliffs, resurfacing will also be in the works next week to get that back open to two lanes each way in an attempt to open up traffic.
"It's going to be tough because they've already had it tough with Front and Millard, you know, and our northern residents in Oregon traveling to Toledo, and this just creates another obstacle, but hopefully it'll all be done here in the next month or so," Paul Roman the director of public service in Oregon explained.
The signed detour route for all vehicles is to take Corduroy Road to Lallendorf Road to York Street.
Additionally, the City of Toledo is working hard to get these projects done in a timely manner citing:
- There were a couple large truck/trailers that were unable to maneuver the turn from Front St. to Millard, which blocked the bypass road and tied up traffic for a while. We have since increased the width of that bypass road in an effort to eliminate any pinch points and allow for a steady traffic flow.
- There were also a number of vehicles that were not pulling up to the stop bars at the temporary traffic signals. These are camera activated signals so if a vehicle is not pulled up far enough the camera can’t detect that vehicle and the light won’t change. We have added signage directing vehicles where they need to stop.
- Our contractor has reviewed and verified that the signals are working as they should, but we are reviewing what timing adjustments would have a positive impact on traffic flow during peak hours.
- We are planning to switch to an MS concrete for the work being done on the Cliffs entrance at Tiffin in order to open that access sooner. This entrance could accommodate some of the contractor traffic coming from their Tiffin parking lot.
- Our office has provided Cliffs the authorization to utilize the now available 12 acres next to Seneca Petroleum on Front St for an alternate parking location. This could greatly reduce the amount of traffic through the Front/Millard intersection and allow for a quicker route for contractors to get to the Cliffs site.
We will continue to monitor traffic through the construction zone and will make adjustments as needed. We appreciate everyone’s continued assistance and patience during this project.