Pearl Road Widening to Start This Year, Mayor Says

The final phase of the Pearl Road widening project will start this year, Mayor Tom Perciak said.

Perciak said he hopes to hire a contractor in September and start construction as soon as possible.

"Is it going to start this year? Yes," Perciak said.

City Council on Monday authorized the mayor to seek bids on the project, which will widen Pearl from where it narrows at Ellsworth south the the county line at Boston Road.

Strongsville officials had hoped to have most of the $11.5 million project paid for with state and federal grants, but the total has fallen short.

The Ohio Department of Transportation awarded the city $6 million for the work, and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency came up with almost $1 million, Perciak said.

Also, Ohio is offering the city a no-interest $2.3 million loan.

It will be enough to get the job done, according to Perciak, who said the city will probably take short-term notes to cover the rest.

Perciak has been pushing for the widening since the day construction wrapped up on the previous section, which added lanes from the post office to a point south of Drake Road.

The city has spent the last year acquiring right of way for the project. Construction is expected to take about a year.

The work appeared to be in jeopardy early in 2012 when the Ohio Department of Transportation  pushed back funding until 2019.

But ODOT reversed the decision last summer and agreed to give the city $6 million in 2013.

Perciak said the widening is crucial to business development on Pearl Road and will provide potential manufacturing firms better access in and out of town when the city develops a new section of Foltz Industrial Park.