The Blade's Road Warrior
10/29/2004The Blade's Road Warrior tells readers where the biggest driving headaches will be throughout the construction season. He will tell you which spots to avoid and what detours to take.
Twice this month, the Road Warrior has driven from the Indiana border to Toledo on the Ohio Turnpike. Both times, the toll ticket had no fare information printed on it.
Gary Suhadolnik, the turnpike's executive director, said motorists should expect to see more of that between now and Nov. 30, when a new interchange opens at State Rt. 58 near Amherst, Ohio.
As the various entrance plazas exhaust their current supplies of toll tickets, they will issue fare-less tickets until the new batch, with toll listings for Exit 140, becomes valid and goes into circulation.
With that printing, the turnpike will begin using different tickets for passenger vehicles and heavy trucks and buses. All tickets dispensed by the low-level dispensers at entrance plazas will have the fares for passenger vehicles printed on them, while tickets from the high-level dispensers will show the fares for heavier toll classifications.
This will free up space on the tickets to include interchange names and service plaza locations - details that don't fit on tickets showing the toll rates for all classes of vehicles.
There is a slight chance that a vehicle whose weight is close to a boundary between weight classes will get the "wrong" ticket from the ticket dispenser, Mr. Suhadolnik said, but the actual fare charged such a vehicle will not be affected.
1. I-280: Construction between I-75 and Navarre Avenue closes the southbound lanes in that area until 6 a.m. Monday. After that, the freeway's reopening will depend on how officials proceed with removing a disabled crane from the Maumee River bridge project. Detour via I-75 and State Rt. 795 until further notice. Northbound I-280 traffic is not affected.
The I-280 northbound exit and southbound entrance at Greenbelt Parkway are closed until the new bridge opens. Ash and Huron streets are closed at the freeway.
2. State Rt. 51 (Monroe Street): Curb and sidewalk reconstruction associated with a resurfacing project requires varying lane closings between Talmadge Road and Sylvania Avenue. Use mall entrances on Talmadge or Sylvania instead of Monroe.
3. Byrne Road: Street and bridge reconstruction restrict traffic to one lane in each direction between Glendale Avenue and Airport Highway through November. Delays are likely. Use Detroit Avenue or Eastgate Road instead.
4. Phillips Avenue: Bridge reconstruction closes Phillips between I-75 and U.S. 24 until Nov. 15.
5. State Rt. 64: Repairs and painting require midday and nighttime flag zones on the Waterville Bridge through next week. Both lanes will be open from 6 to 9 a.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m.
6. State Rt. 64: Repaving between I-75 and downtown Bowling Green is mostly complete, but stripe painting and other finishing work requires varying lane closings until Nov. 24.
7. Monroe (State Rt. 51), Summit streets: Monroe is closed for reconstruction between Huron and Summit streets. Summit is reduced to one lane each way between Jefferson and Adams streets.
8. U.S. 6: Culvert replacement projects close the route to through-traffic between U.S. 23 and State Rt. 53 in Sandusky County until Nov. 6. Detour via U.S. 23 and U.S. 20.
9. Front Street: A long-term sewer repair closes Front just north of Wheeling until Dec. 23. Trucks are detoured via Consaul Street, Corduroy Road, Otter Creek Road, and Millard Avenue. Cars may use York Street to reach Otter Creek.
10. State Rt. 582: Intersection work closes the route on the east side of the State Rt. 25 intersection until Nov. 5.
11. U.S. 20/State Rt. 120 (Central Avenue): Resurfacing requires varying lane closings between I-475/U.S. 23 and Percentum Road in Sylvania Township. On Sunday, the southbound freeway exit to Central will be closed between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., and left turns from westbound Central to the southbound freeway entrance will be blocked.
12. State Rt. 246 (Dorr Street): A reconstruction project restricts traffic to westbound only between Upton and Westwood avenues until mid-December. Eastbound traffic is detoured via Westwood, Nebraska, and Detroit avenues. All side streets on the south side of Dorr within the work area are closed except for Kury, Waverly, and Upton avenues and Parkside Boulevard.
13. Holland-Sylvania Road: A bridge replacement at Wolf Creek closes the street to through-traffic between Airport Highway and Perrysburg-Holland Road. Detour via Airport and Perrysburg-Holland. Completion is scheduled for Dec. 7.
14. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge: Work associated with bridge upgrades requires eastbound lane closings between 6:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
15. State Rt. 2: Intersection reconstruction at State Rts. 579 and 19 requires occasional flag zones on Route 2. Starting Monday, Route 19 will be closed at Route 2 for 30 days, with through-traffic detoured via State Rt. 590.
OFF THE MAP
U.S. 6: Replacement of five culverts closes the route between State Rts. 510 and 269 in Sandusky County until Dec. 4. Detour via Route 510, U.S. 20, and State Rts. 101 and 269.
U.S. 23: Resurfacing restricts traffic to one lane in each direction between State Rts. 182 and 199 near Upper Sandusky.
Contact the Road Warrior at:
roadwarrior@theblade.com
or 419-724-6094.