MACEDONIA, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has announced road closures near the site of the fiery crash that killed a truck driver on Saturday.
Several inspections will be needed on the roadways and bridges at the State Route 8 and I-271 interchange in Macedonia this week as crews continue to assess the damage and safety of the roadways.
“Safety will always be our top priority. We know that keeping these closures in place is a major inconvenience to thousands of motorists, but we will never trade convenience for safety,” said ODOT District 4 Deputy Director Gery Noirot. “Our team will be working hand in hand with contractors to make emergency repairs and reopen the closed roadways and bridges as soon as we deem it safe to do so.”
The ramps from Route 8 North to I-271 North and I-271 South to Route 8 South are still currently closed.
ODOT says that while an initial investigation of the ramp from I-271 South to Route 8 did not show any immediate reason for concern, inspections will take place in the coming days to confirm whether there is any structural damage. The ramp is also in use by cleaning crews as they continue to clean the soil from the diesel fuel spill.
Inspectors found damage on the surface of the roadway on the "south end of the Route 8 bridge over Brandywine Creek" which will need immediate repairs. Work is expected to take most of the next week to complete.
DETOURS
If your travels bring you to this area, here's the suggestion detour route from ODOT:
Drivers looking to head south on SR 8 can detour via SR 82 to I-480 to SR 91 to SR 303 back to SR 8. Motorists trying to access I-271 northbound from SR 8 northbound can do so via SR 82.
“Motorists should plan ahead and give themselves plenty of extra time during their commute in the upcoming week,” Noirot added. “Please continue to check OHGO daily to find the easiest way around these closures.”
IMPACT
"It's still a little chaotic here because of the traffic flow," Michele Martin told with 3News.
Martin is the site manager at the Whistle Express Car Wash, which is less than a mile away from the crash site. Highland Road is the only way into and out of the business, and Martin says the lane closure on Highland due to the cleanup has impacted her customers' ability to access the car wash, lowering sales.
"I'd say at least between 85 and 90% has gone down," she stated, "to where we're not doing the volume of cars we've been doing normally."
Nordonia High School and the bus garage for the Nordonia Hills City Schools are a mile and a half away from the crash site. Superintendent Casey Wright says the district has 33 buses that take about 3,000 kids through the area each day, and officials spent Sunday reconfiguring bus routes to make sure everyone can get to where they need to be safely.
"I don't want people anxious, especially young drivers like high school drivers. That's when problems start happening," Wright said. "We start getting anxious, [saying) 'I'm going to be late.' Don't worry about that. Take your time. We can accommodate almost anything, and we don't want to put anybody in an unsafe situation."