The Ohio Department of Transportation is about to begin work on a major road construction project that could cause some big traffic headaches for drivers on Cleveland’s West Side.
The construction is intended in the long run to prevent flooding and will force closures along I-90, said Brent Kovacs, a public information officer for ODOT.
The work, budgeted at $137 million, is scheduled to get underway on Aug. 4 and be completed in August 2028. The project will address issues in both directions of I-90 between Hillard Road and West Boulevard.
The project is scheduled to be complete in August 2028, Kovacs said.
It includes "a complete pavement replacement from the ground up on the main line and in the ramps,” Kovacs said.
“We're replacing the concrete median. We're replacing the lights. We're doing some bridge work and we're also redoing all the drainage," Kovacs said.
ODOT will keep the traffic moving during construction, Kovacs added.
"We're going to keep four lanes of traffic maintained westbound at all times, but it's going to be shifted to the outside," Kovacs said. "So, one lane is going to be on the shoulder. On the eastbound side, it's going to be down to three lanes between Hilliard and Alger Road."
The project also involves the installation of new drainage in an area that often floods during heavy rains.
"That drainage has been there for a good part of 50, 60 years now,” Kovacs said. “So, we don't know what we're going to find when we rip out that old drainage, if it's going to be blocked or if pipes are going to collapse, things like that."
The westbound lanes of I-90 were shut down for several hours Monday night after heavy rain fell during the evening commute.
