Work on new Inner Belt Bridge in Cleveland set to begin this week

Published: Wednesday, February 02, 2011, 5:30 AM Updated: Wednesday, February 02, 2011, 9:42 AM

ODOT PhotoWhen it's completed, the new Inner Belt Bridge in Cleveland will be named in honor of former mayor and U.S. Sen. George Voinovich.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Nearly seven years in the planning, the Herculean task of building a new Inner Belt Bridge over the Cuyahoga River valley is about to begin.

Crews this week will start to prepare three buildings south of Progressive Field for demolition as part of a$287.4 million project that will be the largest of its kind in Ohio history.

Tear-downs and ramp closings will unfold in February and March, launching the three-year construction of a new Interstate 90 span. When that bridge is built, the existing I-90 viaduct will be torn down and replaced by another new bridge, scheduled to open in 2016, ODOT says.

The first new bridge will eventually carry westbound traffic, and the second one will carry traffic going east.

"The demolition of those three [buildings] will be the first thing that happens," Craig Hebebrand, ODOT's project manager, said in an interview this week.

Work this year will focus on preparing opposite sides of the valley for the 4,247-foot-long bridge.

To the west, the bridge will land in Tremont, right where the vacant, hulking Cleveland Cold Storage building stands.

To the east, it will settle in the Gateway district, just north of the current Inner Belt viaduct and a short distance from Progressive Field.

The basic work of relocating utilities and clearing properties in the bridge's footprint should, by year's end, yield to the sight of the bridge's massive concrete supports sprouting from the valley floor.

The bridge's arcing, triangular steel girders should be in place by the end of 2012, with the bridge deck complete by the end of 2013, Hebebrand said this week.

That is, if all goes as planned.

ODOT says it has begun acquisition of three more properties -- the last of 49 it needs to buy and clear on both sides of the river -- to make way for the bridge.

Occupants in nine homes have been relocated. Fourteen businesses will relocate, with nine completed so far, said ODOT spokeswoman Jocelynn Clemings.

ODOT is still acquiring the Cleveland Cold Storage building, with the latest offer of $4.51 million to the building's owner, Clemings said. Demolishing the gray monolith on the Tremont bluffs will cost $3.5 million more.

"At this point, it looks like we will have acquired all the property in time," said ODOT's Hebebrand.

Not far from Cleveland Cold Storage, preparation is already taking place as the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District relocates 60-inch-wide sewer lines to make way for the bridge.

The work, which has squeezed West 14th Street traffic, will cost $8 million, said sewer district spokeswoman Jennifer Elting. ODOT will reimburse the sewer district for the work, she said. The project is scheduled to be done by June.

Motorists using interstates downtown will see and feel the bridge project's impact soon.

The East 21st Street ramp to Interstate 77 South is scheduled to close Feb. 14 and won't reopen for six years.

Closing that ramp will allow two lanes, instead of one, for drivers headed to I-77 South from I-90 West. ODOT wants to divert as much I-90 West traffic as possible to I-77 South and then to Interstate 490, to avoid bridge deck replacements and other road improvements related to the new bridge, Clemings said.

In March, crews will permanently close two ramps -- from I-77 North to I-90 West, and from I-90 East to I-77 South. The ramps aren't heavily used, Clemings said. Closing them will reduce some of the "cluttered entanglement" of ramps in the area, she said.

Dozens of workers with Walsh Construction of Chicago, the lead builder, and HNTB of Ohio Inc. the lead designing firm, have offices over Massimo's Restaurant, at West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue.

At the project's peak, some 300 workers will be planning and building the bridge, ODOT's Hebebrand said.

A ceremonial groundbreaking is scheduled for late March or early April, depending on the weather.

Among those watching the project closely is Thomas Starinsky, associate director of the Historic Gateway Neighborhood Corp. He was among three dozen planning and development officials who offered suggestions for the bridge's design.

"The planning for the bridge went as long as it will take to build it," said Starinsky. "Because there was thoughtfulness in the planning and design, it'll serve the city well."