Girard bridge closed indefinitely

By Jeanne Starmack | January 9, 2015 at 12:02a.m.

GIRARD

The city is going to determine if temporary improvements are possible for the Glendale Avenue Bridge over Squaw Creek.

If so, said Mayor Jim Melfi, the bridge would open again for cars, though not for trucks or buses.

The bridge closed Wednesday after five consulting engineers determined it was dangerously deteriorated, he said.

He said even he could see how bad the deterioration is.

“Even for the novice, it raises eyebrows,” he said, adding that deterioration is severe in the head wall, the base and the culverts.

He said the city has known for a few years the bridge, built in 1953, has been deficient. He said two major studies were completed on it, and it was inspected annually until the last six months, when monthly checks began. Melfi told city council at that time the bridge could be closed suddenly.

He said he told police, the fire department and schools that they are not to use it.

He said while the span will be closed indefinitely until approximately $500,000 can be found to replace it, the city will determine if a temporary improvement is structurally possible and if so, whether it’s worth the cost.

Five hundred cars or more a day use the bridge to access U.S. Route 422 from the Squaw Creek and Seneca Woods subdivisions, he said.

Other ways out are Ellenwood Avenue to Shannon Road and Ward Avenue into the city.

Melfi said the bridge is on the Ohio Department of Transportation’s list of projects that need funding, and the city has asked U.S. Rep Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, to help find the money.