$1.5 million stimulus-funded project completed nearly eight months early

Cleveland (Tuesday, October 12, 2010) – The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the City of Cleveland on Friday opened the new $1.5 million West 77^th Street bridge over the Greater Cleveland Region Transit Authority (GCRTA) and Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks on Cleveland’s near west side.

ODOT, the City of Cleveland and the Great Lakes Construction Company closed the West 77^th Street bridge between Wakefield and Madison Avenues on January 11, 2010 in order to replace the aging structure.  Since then, West 77^th Street has been closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

The bridge was scheduled to be complete and open to the public in June 2011.  Coordination with GCRTA allowed for the new bridge to be open more than eight months earlier than originally expected.  ODOT and GCRTA combined for a weekend shut-down of the tracks beneath West 77^th Street, which allowed work to be done around-the-clock for one full weekend in lieu of nightly track closures.  

The new bridge is two lanes – one in each direction – and includes a sidewalk for pedestrians on each side.   

During construction, motorists noticed signs at this construction site, announcing “Putting America to Work: Project Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”  Similar orange-and-green signs have been erected when work begins at stimulus-funded projects across Ohio.

As of mid-September, ODOT and its local partners have awarded contracts on more than 388 stimulus-funded transportation construction projects - a combination of highway, bridge, waterport, rail, sidewalk/bikeway, and transit investments - worth more than $847 million in stimulus funds.

So far, 146 of those stimulus projects have been completed - mostly on Ohio's roadways and bridges, providing safer travel for Ohio's citizens and businesses.

Since the start of the Recovery Act, thousands of Ohio workers on stimulus-funded transportation projects have earned more than $65 million in paychecks working on these projects.

In the month of July, nearly 9500 construction workers were put to work, earning nearly $13.5 million dollars in stimulus-backed paychecks.

This summer, ODOT expects laborers and workers on stimulus-funded construction projects to earn more than $40 million in total paychecks across the state.

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For more information contact:
The ODOT District 12 Communications Office at (216) 584-2006