Route 11 detours Southbound lanes closed after fatal accident

Police in Liberty and
Howland say they’ll see added traffic with the Route 11 lane closing.

THE VINDICATOR

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

VIENNA — Thousands of motorists a day are affected by closing of a portion of state Route 11’s southbound lanes for some time to come.

Truck driver Raymond F. Cross Jr., 46, of Mercer, Pa., was killed when the boom of a cargo container truck used to transport trash containers struck the underside of the Niles-Vienna Road bridge over Route 11 early Tuesday.

The northbound lane was reopened to traffic about noon, but the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the southbound lanes will remain closed — for at least a month — because of possible structural damage to the bridge.

Some residents were evacuated after the boom of the truck, owned by Tri-County Industries Inc. of Grove City, Pa., hit the overpass, causing a Dominion gas line to rupture, the patrol said.

The Ohio Department of Transportation said its bridge specialists found the steel beams and deck surface need replacing.

The southbound lanes of Route 11, between state Route 82 and Interstate 80, will remain closed.

“The damaged steel beams hanging down into the southbound lanes of Route 11 do not provide the appropriate vertical clearance for all vehicles to travel safely through,” an ODOT spokesman said.

ODOT engineers are working on producing the necessary designs and securing emergency funds to make repairs.

David E. Sicker, a state structures and pavement engineer, was on the scene Tuesday. He said it didn’t appear as if the portion of bridge spanning northbound Route 11 was damaged.

While the southbound lanes remain closed, the alternative route for southbound travelers is Route 82 to Route 46 southbound to U.S. Route 422 to I-80.

Lt. Joseph Dragovich, commander of the highway patrol’s Southington post, said Cross had dropped off a container at the Target store at the Eastwood Mall early Tuesday and was heading back to Grove City.

Dragovich said it’s unknown if the boom was left up after the drop-off.

Edward Vogel, Tri-County vice president, said this type of accident hasn’t occurred in the 50 years of the company’s existence.

“It’s not supposed to happen,” Vogel said. “It was an accident.”

He explained that Cross dropped off a container at the mall, and the truck was not hauling a container at the time of the crash.

When fully extended, Vogel said, the truck boom can reach a height of about 18 feet. Clearance under the overpass is 15 feet, according to ODOT.

Nearly 80,000 vehicles daily use the area to travel, according to the state.

There are 15,560 vehicles that use Routes 11 and 82; 34,520 at Route 11 and Tibbetts-Wick; 8,500 at Routes 193 and 304; and 20,006 at Route 422 and state Route 46.

The detours didn’t seem to bother shoppers, at least Tuesday.

“We’re very, very busy,” said a spokeswoman for the Kmart Super Center on Route 46 near Route 82 in Howland. “It hasn’t bothered us in the least.”

Dave Stockwell, manager of Dillard’s at the Eastwood Mall, said the closure “will be an issue” for would-be customers. He said shoppers might think otherwise about using Route 11 and go elsewhere.

Police in neighboring communities are expecting increased traffic because of Route 11’s lane closure.

Howland Police Chief Paul Monroe said he expects added traffic initially along already-busy Route 46. He noted motorists find alternative routes once they run into Route 46 traffic near the Eastwood Mall. “You make that mistake once,” the chief said.

On Tuesday morning, traffic was diverted away from the north and southbound lanes of Route 11, between state Route 82 and Interstate 80. Liberty police said they saw increased traffic as drivers got off at 82 to travel south on Route 193, and expect more traffic to continue.

Roads leading to the crash site were blocked to traffic, along with Route 11 being closed from Tibbetts-Wick Road to Route 82. It was also blocked at Stillwagon Road and Scoville-North Road.

Fire Chief Rich Brannon of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department said there also was a semi-tractor trailer, a pickup truck and one car involved in the mishap.

The driver of the semi was not injured. The driver of the car was treated at Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital. The pickup truck driver was taken to St. Joseph Health Center.

The patrol did not release the names of the others injured, but did say their injuries were not life-threatening.

Some residents were evacuated early in the morning.

“It’s going to be a hell of a mess. It looks like pickup sticks,” Brannon said of the crash scene. Brannon said when the container truck gashed open the large natural gas line, “there was a vapor cloud for awhile.”

Five residents were evacuated because of the possibility of an explosion. Baker Elementary School on Sheridan Drive off state Route 193 was also closed as a precaution.

The Red Cross had established a shelter at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department on Route 193.

Mary Pleso of Niles-Vienna Road was one of those evacuated.

“I had time to dress. The police got me here because I was snowed in, anyway,” the 77-year-old Pleso said. “I couldn’t have gone anywhere, anyway.”

She noted she lives about 150 feet off of Niles-Vienna.

Another evacuee, Collette Stevenson, of Karen Oval, off Smith-Stewart Road in Vienna, went to the fire station with her husband, Walt.

“I had no idea what was going on,” the 64-year-old said.

The evacuees were allowed to return to their homes about 9 a.m. after the gas line had been shut off by Dominion and the gas dissipated.

yovich@vindy.com