Route 11 lanes expected to reopen within days


The demolition work will cost around $25,000.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

VIENNA — Relief is expected in less than a week for drivers who use state Route 11 southbound near state Route 82.

Spokeswoman Pat Kennard of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Akron office said workers began emergency demolition work Thursday afternoon on two damaged steel beams within the Niles-Vienna bridge over Route 11 in Vienna Township. The beams are 83 feet long.

This will allow southbound traffic to resume “in less than one week,” she said.

The two southbound lanes of Route 11 between Route 82 and Tibbetts Wick Road have been closed since a Tuesday morning collision involving a trash roll-off truck and the Niles-Vienna bridge, which suffered about $250,000 worth of damage.

The temporary repairs at the bridge will cost about $25,000.

Raymond F. Cross Jr., 45, of Grandview Drive, Mercer, Pa., died at the scene when the lift of his roll-off container truck hit the underside of the bridge about 4:39 a.m.

Traffic was diverted after the accident, Kennard said, because the damaged beams reduced its vertical clearance.

ODOT received emergency authorization from its 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.

Meanwhile, Eastwood Mall officials say the flow of business to the mall has apparently been unaffected by the Route 11 closure so far. For example, Lorrie Helline, manager of the Eastwood Mall J.C. Penney store, said the store was receiving a normal flow of customers.

Kenneth J. Kollar, general manager of the Eastwood Mall Complex, said he believes any mall visitor who considers the reason for the closure — a traffic fatality — will understand and accept any inconvenience.

Kollar said his sympathies go out the Cross family and Tri-County Industries Inc. of Grove City, his employer. Cross had dropped off a trash bin at the Target store at the mall just before the accident occurred.

Tri-County officials and police said they believe Cross forgot to lower the hydraulic lift on the truck after dropping off the bin. The 18-foot metal lift struck the bridge, causing the cab of the roll-off container truck to lift up and strike the underside of the bridge.

Meanwhile, a national solid waste association official says the occurrence of two similar roll-off fatalities in less than six months in Trumbull County appears to be a coincidence rather than an indication of a larger problem.

David Biderman, who represents the National Solid Waste Management Association, said he has no statistics to back it up, but he is not aware that roll-off truck fatalities involving hoists are a common problem within the industry.

“It happens, but it is an unusual occurrence,” he said.

He noted that the greatest tool in the industry to prevent such accidents is training, adding that he is not aware of any type of safety device on such trucks that would warn the driver when the hoist is in the upward position while the vehicle is moving at cruising speeds.

In addition to Tuesday’s crash, Ronald F. Lombardo, 55, of Kirk Road, Austintown, died June 4, when the hoist on his truck hit the state Route 82 overpass on state Route 45 in Champion Township. He worked for Phoenix Disposal of Youngstown.

runyan@vindy.com

By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use.

» Accept
» Learn More