The Blade's Road Warrior
7/28/2006The Blade s Road Warrior advises readers where the biggest driving headaches will be throughout the construction season. He ll tell you the locations to avoid and the detours to take.
We ve observed lots of big trucks making left turns from eastbound Cherry Street onto northbound Summit Street lately well after the arrow signal for that turn has changed to red. This has been duly reported to the Toledo Police Department, which says our complaint was not the first they have received about the situation.
But with I-280 closed into September and possibly later, we re also sympathetic to the truckers, who must deal with a very short cycle for that arrow signal as they try to make that left turn. Trucks take longer to accelerate than cars do, and making them stop and start several times to get through that intersection is wasteful as well as irksome to other motorists.
If there is a way for Toledo s traffic signal folks to lengthen that arrow s green time a little bit until I-280 reopens, it should be worth a try to make that posted detour route work better. In the meantime, motorists headed west on Cherry from the Martin Luther King, Jr., Bridge should be alert for turning trucks lingering in the intersection after the light changes.
1. I-280: Closed for bridge construction, Greenbelt Parkway to Summit Street. Through traffic detour via I-75, State Rt. 795. Reopening scheduled for Sept. 6 but could be delayed further. Northbound Summit is closed at I-280; use Greenbelt to Galena Street instead. The Front Street entrance to the Craig Memorial Bridge is temporarily closed, and Front is restricted to one lane each way, plus turn restrictions, near I-280.
2. I-475, U.S. 23: Bridge rehabilitation closes lanes north and east of I-475/U.S. 23 junction. Reopening in September.
3. Byrne Road: Bridge reconstruction, road rebuilding closes lanes north of Airport Highway and south of Tedrow Road. Avoid using Byrne between Dorr Street and Hill Avenue in particular.
4. State Rt. 420: Interchange construction at U.S. 20/23 closes lanes south of Truman Road. Traffic shifts on U.S. 20/23.
5. State Rt. 25: Closed at I-475/U.S. 23 for bridge rehabilitation. Westbound ramps are closed overnight tonight for resurfacing, otherwise all ramps are open.
6. State Rt. 184 (Alexis Rd.), I-75: Bridge reconstruction closes lanes on Alexis near I-75 until October. Lanes closed at night on I-75.
7. State Rt. 582: Closed for culvert work at Liberty Hi Road until Aug. 10. Detour via State Rts. 64 and 65.
8. Monroe Street: A repaving project requires lane closings west of U.S. 23 in downtown Sylvania.
9. State Rt. 2 (Airport Highway): Widening work between Byrne and Reynolds roads requires flag zones. Use South Avenue or Glendale Avenue.
10. State Rt. 2: Two-way traffic is maintained in a work area at the Bono curve, but watch out for vehicles stopped to make turns. Several side roads are closed.
11. Ohio Turnpike: Bridge widening between I-280 and I-75 may require occasional lane closings. Glenwood and Cummings roads and East Broadway are closed at the turnpike.
12. State Rt. 51 (Monroe Street): Reconstruction requires lane closings between Colling wood Boulevard and Detroit Avenue (U.S. 24).
13. State Rt. 2 (Airport Highway): Reconstruction of Albon Road north of Route 2 closes the westbound right lane on Route 2 until early next week. Albon is closed north of Airport.
I-75: Single-lane closings for road and bridge repairs between Monroe and I-275.
I-275: Resurfacing requires varying lane closings between I-275 and the Monroe-Wayne county line.
U.S. 6/20: Lanes closed on Fremont bypass east of State Rt. 412 for culvert work.
U.S. 20A/State Rt. 2: Underpass repairs require flag zones east of Delta between 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily through Aug. 4.
U.S. 223: Closed for bridge reconstruction on Adrian s west side. Detour via M-52, M-34. Use other routes if possible.
State Rt. 2: Lane closings are likely on the Edison Bridge over Sandusky Bay weekly from 8 p.m. Monday through 8 a.m. Friday.
M-125: Closed north of Frenchtown Square Mall, Monroe, for bridge replacements. Detour via U.S. 24.
Contact the Road Warrior at: roadwarrior@theblade.com.