Damaged bridge over Route 11 opens

VIENNA – One lane of the Niles-Vienna Road overpass at state Route 11 was to open to traffic at noon today.

The bridge has been closed since a Dec. 18 accident in which the boom of a roll-off trash container truck hit the superstructure of the bridge, heavily damaging two of the five beams that support it. The truck driver, Raymond F. Cross Jr., 46, of Mercer, Pa., was killed.

Randy Smith, chief deputy for the Trumbull County Engineer’s Office, said today that bi-directional signals have been installed on either end of the bridge. Traffic at one end of the eastbound lane will be allowed to pass over the bridge and then traffic in the opposite direction will be allowed to pass. A concrete barrier has been installed between the two lanes to keep traffic off the damaged westbound lane.

The Ohio Department of Transportation intends to rehabilitate the bridge later this year.