MAHONING COUNTY Bridge ends rough ride getting to Ohio Works

The new bridge provides a more direct link to Interstates 80 and 680.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The snowflake-white concrete of the new bridge curves gently over a set of railroad tracks and into the Ohio Works Industrial Park.
It sure beats the twisting, dusty, narrow and rutted path into the industrial park that companies and its workers have been using the past six years.
City officials opened a new bridge today connecting Salt Springs Road to the Ohio Works via Division Street. The span replaces an old bridge torn down in the late 1980s that once served steel mills on the site.
"It takes us back to the past," said Jeffrey L. Chagnot, city development director.
To date, businesses inside the park have used an entrance at U.S. Route 422 to get back and forth.
It's been a rough road for trucks and workers.
A bumpy road from Route 422 leads into a couple sharp turns and through a tunnel to the entrance of the V & amp;M Star steel company. Then comes a rough set of railroad tracks and passage through a pockmarked, rusting single-lane bridge before meeting the main road running through the Ohio Works.
Significance
The new bridge provides a more direct link to Interstates 80 and 680. The quality access should help draw another one or two businesses to the 20 remaining acres of the 150-acre Ohio Works, Chagnot said.
About $75 million is invested in the industrial park's buildings, roads and utilities.
Three companies with about 200 employees are operating there. One new project is under construction and a second is about to start. Also, a building from an original tenant that went bankrupt remains available.
The new bridge cost $2.1 million to build plus $450,000 in administrative costs. Construction started in January and was to be finished in July, but weather delays pushed the opening to today.
The city paid for the bridge with $900,000 from the Ohio Department of Development and the balance with federal funds.
rgsmith@vindy.com