Lake Erie Construction shuts down road crews

CLEVELAND — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation shut down construction projects for two weeks in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, but Ohio is not following suit. Highway construction is still underway in Ohio and keeping thousands of workers busy, even as the state is shutting down bars, restaurants and other businesses, urging social distancing. "At this point, we are still planning to move forward with our construction projects as planned, and we are monitoring the situation closely,'' Erica Hawkins, ODOT's deputy director of communications said Friday morning. Despite ODOT's policy, Lake Erie Construction in Norwalk shut down Monday. President Dave Bleile said he was on a conference call Friday with the Lt. Governor and representatives from about 70 other companies in Ohio about the situation. "There was a rumor about a couple of guys working on a project on I-75 who had COVID-19," Bleile said. "They were working on a retaining wall and were working close together. Basically, what happened, they were coughing and felt sick but they haven't been tested for COVID-19 and they were sent home." The company was not from Norwalk. That got the discussion going at Lake Erie Construction. "Installing guardrail is tough to do with social distancing," Bleile said. "We just weren't in a position to go out this week and maintain that six-foot distance. We decided to call them off this week then try to form a game plan. "We have a post setter and a post pounder; One holding the guard rail and one guy putting the bolt in. That is tough to do with social distancing. At this point we are just doing emergency repairs this week then go forward from there. "This was our own decision to deal with the requirement of the six-foot personal space. Maybe we need to get in 95 masks so they can work side by side. We are uncertain how long that will last. We didn't want to be the ones out there causing the problems." Continuation of work in Ohio means that hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of heavy construction is still underway in Northeast Ohio and Cuyahoga County. Those projects include the $151 million Section 3 portion of the $306 million Opportunity Corridor in Cleveland, the $227 million construction of a new I-480 Bridge in Valley View, and the $120 million lane widening of I-271 in Oakwood, Bedford, Bedford Heights and Warrensville Heights. Hawkins said that ODOT is telling workers on its own maintenance projects, which include pothole and guardrail repairs, to work in smaller groups, to observe social distancing and not to congregate in garages. "We have an obligation to keep roads maintained through this,'' she said. She referred questions about procedures on highway construction sites to contractors. A spokesperson for Columbus-based Kokosing Construction Co., the lead contractor on Stage 3 of Opportunity Corridor, declined to comment about precautions the company is taking to keep workers safe and healthy. Chris Runyan, president of the Ohio Contractors Association, which represents 200 contracting firms and 300 supply chain companies involved in highway and other civil engineering projects, said that such work naturally involves social distancing because workers operate heavy equipment solo or in small groups. "We do have advantages built-in,'' he said. He also said contractors are checking employees' health status and asking them to wash their hands. Runyan said that highway construction employs roughly 120,000 workers across Ohio. Michael Tworzydlo, Cuyahoga County's chief construction engineer, said the county, which administers and inspects more than a half-dozen road and bridge maintenance and rehab projects, is following the same practices on worksites as ODOT. Construction progress meetings are being delayed or held remotely, he said. While the stock market gyrates and the economy tilts toward a recession because of the pandemic, highway construction dollars will continue flowing into the state and the region in coming months and years. Last Friday, the board of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency approved $1.9 billion worth of highway, road, bridge and transit construction projects between 2021 and 2024 in Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lake, Geauga and Medina counties. Roughly $1.3 billion of the total will be spent in Cuyahoga, according to a draft summary of NOACA's TIP, or Transportation Improvement Plan. Money for the work will begin flowing after July 1, if the projects pass final review by ODOT and the Federal Highway Administration, said NOACA Executive Director Grace Gallucci. Board members voted in a reconfigured meeting room to allow for social distancing, she said. The public and media were not allowed to attend in person, but the meeting was live-streamed on NOACA's Facebook page. Gallucci said NOACA considered the meeting "critical'' to the agency's operations because it would keep money flowing to regional projects. Of the total $1.9 billion approved last week, $1.38 billion will be devoted to highway, road and bridge projects, and $524 million will go to transit projects. Nearly $50 million, coming out of the highway portion, will be spent on bicycle and pedestrian amenities. NOACA remains open, although employees are encouraged to work remotely. The agency will not hold meetings at least until April 3, although that date could shift, Gallucci said. "The government is still working and there are still things happening that need to happen,'' she said. Steven Litt of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer contributed to this story.