CLEVELAND — Lane reductions begin Monday in Cleveland's Gateway District as construction begins on the city's Memorial Bridges Loop project.
The City of Cleveland says the Memorial Bridges Loop Project will create a protected shared-use path connecting the Gateway District to West 25th Street, the Detroit-Superior Bridge, and the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge.
The route is already popular with runners and bikers, and the city wants to add protections for those users.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is in charge of construction and said it will add bollards, which are short, vertical orange and yellow posts, along Huron Road.
Work will also be done to raise the sidewalk from Ontario Street to where Ontario and Carnegie Avenue meet.
The final project will reduce the current three lanes to two. ODOT said the changes made with this project will help drivers, too.
"I think they're hopeful that will reduce speeding and crashes in the area as well," Isaac Hunt, a public information officer with ODOT District 12, said. "It's kind of a benefit for both motorists and pedestrians and cyclists. It's really nice to see that at ODOT we strive to do as much for multimodal transportation as we can."
Starting Monday and lasting through mid-November, lane restrictions will be in place in the following areas:
- Huron Road and Ontario Street between the Detroit-Superior Bridge and the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge will experience various lane restrictions.
- Huron Road eastbound between Detroit Avenue and Ontario Street will be reduced to a single lane. Additional turn lanes will be provided at intersections.
- Ontario Street southbound between Huron Road and Carnegie Avenue will be reduced to a single lane.
- Detroit Avenue eastbound at Huron Road will be reduced to one left-turn lane and one combined through/right-turn lane. The bicycle lane will merge with vehicle traffic through the intersection.
- Parking restrictions will also be in place on Huron Road between West Third Street and Superior.
ODOT said the best thing to do is leave early and give yourself some extra time to navigate around the construction work.
