NORTH KINGSVILLE, Ohio — Drivers in Ashtabula County will have to detour around the “emergency closure” of state Route 531 between La Bounty Road and Route 193 a bit longer than initially anticipated as crews continue working to address erosion issues.
The Ohio Department of Transportation announced Friday morning that the closure, which was scheduled to end last month, will continue until further notice.
Drivers are being detoured Route 193 to U.S. 20 to Route 11.
ODOT says they’ve decided to keep the roadway closed to “implement additional erosion repairs to various areas within the closure to stabilize the slope.”
The extension comes more than two months after ODOT originally announced the emergency road closure back on Dec.1.
Repairs are also expected along Route 531 in the Monday Drive vicinity later this construction season.
“ODOT has been actively monitoring this area over the past decade as Lake Erie has continued encroaching on SR 531, posing a safety issue for the traveling public,” the department said last year.
Around 3,000 vehicles use this portion of Route 531 each day, according to ODOT officials.
ODOT says they are working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Agency "to design a larger repair project."
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Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in an unrelated traffic story on Jan. 26, 2023.
