43
Preliminary work for 224/11 construction to begin Feb. 16
By ROBERT CONNELLY
CANFIELD
Prep work for the replacement of the U.S. Route 224 bridge over state Route 11 will begin Feb. 16.
Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman Brent Kovacs said the main work will still begin in early March. The prep work will entail “a lot of work off the roadway with various lane restrictions,” he said.
The early March projection for the start of the main work is “very tentative” based on weather and equipment, Kovacs added.
The contractor is A.P. O’Horo of Liberty. The project will cost about $5.4 million. It will mirror the recent U.S. Route 224-Interstate 680 project in Boardman and is expected to occur from March to October.
Construction will stop the week before, the week of and the week after the Canfield Fair. Fair traffic will be diverted onto South Raccoon Road.
Fair organizers have said that they will work with authorities to make sure the word is out about alternative ways to get to the yearly event.
The project includes widening Raccoon Road for a dedicated left-turn lane with a straight/right-turn lane. There is a right-turn lane and a straight/left-turn lane at the Raccoon Road and U.S. Route 224 intersection now.
Crews also will add a dedicated left-turn lane to the southbound Route 11 ramp at 224. Now there is one left-turn lane, a straight/left-turn lane and a dedicated right-turn lane at that light.
“It’s not going to be pretty. ODOT said they learned from Poland area on what not to do and what to do,” said Alex Geordan, Canfield schools superintendent.
Afternoon bus runs will be congested, he said, as the district picks up students from their homes for kindergarten through fourth grade. Other routes could include Western Reserve and Shield roads.
“Another worry for us is spring events when we have to take students east when we use 224,” Geordan said. “We’re going to then change our mindset on what roads to use.”
“We are” concerned, said Michal A. Naffah, president of Naffah Hospitality Group, which owns Inner Circle Pizza in Canfield. “But they’ve given us their word that it’s not going to be as long as the one in Poland.”
That location, 6579 Ironwood Blvd., is one of many restaurants and stores on that road about half-mile from the intersection of U.S. Route 224 and state Route 11.