CLEVELAND — Two bridges that cross the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland are under construction, causing frustration for business owners and community members.
David Steele, owner of the Flat Iron Cafe, told 3News that he was under the impression the Center Street Swing Bridge would be completed in 10 months. It's now been 16 months since the bridge has been closed.
"I'd like to see this thing open as soon as possible," said Steele.
Meanwhile, around the corner from the Flat Iron Cafe, other businesses are impacted by the closure of the Columbus Road Bridge.
"Our customers are lost," said Urvashi O'Toole, owner of Sainato's. "By the time they get here they're tired and they lose interest."
Steele told 3News the detour to get to the Flat Iron is about two and a half miles and has severely impacted business. Now, the restaurant will likely lose out on two summer seasons, which has lost the business 50% of their revenue.
"It makes me want to do business elsewhere," said Steele. "It's frustrating."
Adding to the frustration for Steele, O'Toole and other members of the community is that they say haven't gotten answers to their questions. 3News reached out to the City of Cleveland and was told the Columbus Road Bridge could possibly be open by Friday, May 26.
A representative of the city sent 3News this response:
"We processed an emergency purchase order to procure three drives for the electrical control panel. Current information today from the vendor suppling the electrical drives is, parts are being shipped from Houston to their shop in Chicago. The vendor will fabricate the drives in their shop in Chicago and will ship to Cleveland with an arrival on Tuesday (5/23). Each drive is approximately 200 lbs. As we wait for the drives our electricians have been removing the old equipment and prepping for the delivery. The installation for two drives will take approximately a day (Wednesday 5/24) and a day to program once installed (5/25) . We anticipate the bridge being functioning by Friday 5/26."
As for the Center Street Swing Bridge, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is overseeing the construction project.
Right now, ODOT tells 3News the swing bridge could be open by the end of summer, but they add that there's still a lot of work to do before the historic bridge can reopen.
"This project entails structural steal repairs to the structure," said ODOT public information officer Brent Kovacs. "We're replacing the driving circuits on the bridge, sidewalk repairs and then repainting the bridge as well as various other repairs to the mechanism that swings it."
Business owners ask that ODOT provide more resources for the project to fast-track construction.
"I'm over it, I'm over it," said Steele. "It's taken too long."