Marks Road to Reopen by June 1

A culvert under Marks Road will be replaced soon and the road will reopen to traffic by June 1, a city official said.

City Engineer Ken Mikula said Strongsville was able to fast-track the culvert project -- a job not scheduled to be done till 2014 -- to get Marks Road reopened before a project on Boston Road starts June 1.

"We need to get this going," Mikula said. "We have to be done and the road reopened by June 1 because that's when work will start on Boston at the railroad tracks."

Marks was abruptly closed in December after a Cuyahoga County inspector said the corrugated metal pipe under Marks Road was ready to collapse. 

Marks remains closed between Lunn Road and the railroad tracks.

City Council agreed Monday to hire Cole Construction to replace the steel pipe with aluminum, at a cost of $110,349.

The city is responsible for maintaining culverts, but county engineers handle inspections.

Mikula said officials have been watching the culvert for awhile, and inspectors notified the city in a Nov. 30 letter that it was time to act.

"In their opinion, failure (of the culvert) is imminent," Mikula said.

A news release from the county said the pipe has "experienced severe deterioration. The Bridge Inspection Division of the Department of Public Works has identified some critical findings in the pipe and the adjacent fill that have warranted the closing. There are cracks, flattening and the beginning of some buckled areas within the structure that have also caused failures to the guardrail."

The Boston Road tracks were the site of a fatal accident last June. Four Brunswick High School students were killed when their car went airborne and the driver lost control.

The Ohio Department of Transportation project will level out the pavement on both sides of the tracks to eliminate the hill.

Mikula said the project may close Boston Road and could lead to long detours if Marks is not open.