Major, 3-year Interstate 90 rehab project to get underway this summer

Major work on an 8-mile stretch of Interstate 90 in Lorain County is closer to getting underway with a start date expected this summer, the Lorain County commissioners learned Tuesday. The project will involve the complete replacement of and additions of two lanes, one in each direction east and west, from the merge with state Route 2 in Elyria Township to the Route 611 interchange in Avon. The work zone includes, from west to east, portions of Elyria Township, Elyria, Sheffield and Avon, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. Commissioner Marty Gallagher, a Republican and board representative to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, announced Tuesday that the state recently put the project out to bid with plans to start construction July 1. "It's very positive news," Gallagher said. It will be a three-year project, he said. ODOT estimates the work will cost more than $110 million. The project limits are I-90 from the Ohio Turnpike tolls in Elyria Township east to the Route 611 interchange in Avon, a distance of approximately 8 miles. The segment from the Turnpike toll both to Route 2 in Elyria Township will be repaved but remain a four-lane roadway, according to ODOT. New lanes will be constructed in the existing median of I-90. Some bridge work will be done, though several I-90 bridges over the Black River, railroad lines and local roads have already been widened to accommodate an additional travel lane "and will require only restriping to match the widened highway," according to ODOT. Pavement repairs also will be done, holding over existing pavement until new pavement can be constructed, the agency said. Commissioner David Moore, a Republican, said the county has been waiting "for years to get that project started." Moore said he expected state Route 113, which runs more or less parallel to I-90 to the south, "might be a busy road" while construction happens. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.