Route 11 relief on the way

AKRON — Relief may be on the horizon “very soon” for drivers who use state Route 11 near state Route 82 in Vienna.

Though actual dates are not being released, spokesperson Pat Kennard of the Akron O.D.O.T. office said the department plans to demolish damaged portions of the bridge at Niles-Vienna Road soon. Once the demolition is complete, Route 11 traffic will resume, she said.

The two southbound lanes of Route 11 between state Route 82 and Tibbetts Wick Road have been closed since a Tuesday morning collision involving a trash roll-off truck and the bridge. The 45-year-old Mercer man driving the roll-off truck died at the scene.

Traffic was diverted, Kennard said, because damaged steel beams on the under side of the bridge have reduced its vertical clearance.

O.D.O.T. said early Thursday that it had received emergency authorization from the O.D.O.T. director for the demolition to begin.

Kennard said traffic over top of the bridge, on Niles-Vienna Road, will not resume for a longer time period — until after the final repairs are made to the bridge.