Clague Road to remain closed longer than expected
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published April 12, 2006

Motorists using the Clague Road area will find the path to better traveling in that busy area has just gotten longer.

Mayor Thomas O’Grady said last week that once the culvert work on the multi-million dollar project is done, the road will remain closed to through traffic and will only be open to the people living in the area with that traffic going southbound. He said the area will probably remain closed until around the end of the year.

“It’s something we believe needs to be done to enable us to get the project done in as fast and as timely a manner as possible,” O’Grady said. “We know this might make it a little tougher in the view of some motorists. But with the scope of the work being done, we believe this will make it easier to get the work done and protect the residents of that area from traffic coming through the construction area.”

Police Chief George Ruple said motorists attempting to go through the construction area should be aware his department will be watching the area closely.

“People going through the closed construction area will be ticketed; it’s as simple as that,” Ruple said. “Going through a closed construction area is a traffic violation that’s pretty simple and clear-cut. So unless you live in that area, you really don’t need to be there.”

He said police are also going to be watching the areas around the school buses for children going to and from the area.

“These are safety issues we’re talking about,” Ruple said. “People work in those construction areas and they’re not supposed to have to worry about vehicles trying to come through it. And we want to make sure the residents of the area and the children are also taken care of.”

Ruple questioned why any driver would want to take a vehicle through a construction area anyway.

“It would be pretty hard on any vehicle and probably cause some unnecessary damage to it,” Ruple said. “You’re talking about some two or three foot drops off the side of the road that could really break something. Plus, there are other impediments in a construction area. It’s much simpler for a motorist to just take an alternative route while all this is going on.”

City council officials said the move is a good one, given the current road conditions.

“We need to make sure the area is secure,” said Ward 2 Councilman Paul Barker, who represents the area. “I’ve seen a couple of vehicles go around construction signs and areas and that’s just not right. We don’t want people going through there.”

Barker, who along with some residents of the area has been monitoring the traffic flow, said he’s glad a strong police presence will remain.

“You can see that the police officers being there has really helped the situation,” Barker said. “When people see an officer nearby, they will behave better. That’s just a fact of life.”

Barker said he will continue to work with residents of the area to make sure its safe.

Nicole Dailey Jones, chair of council’s streets and transportation committee, said efforts to get the work done faster and keep area residents safer are a plus.

She also said having work done on a major roadway like Clague will be a good prelude for when the Crocker-Stearns roadway extension project is done in the next two years.

“You’re going to have a similar situation with a well-traveled area having to deal with major roadwork going on,” she said

Larry Orlowski, chairman of council’s safety committee, said the move should help the entire area, noting that he has been trying to take care of traffic issues at nearby Coe Avenue and nearby streets.

“We just want to make sure the entire area is as safe as possible and that that traffic is as smooth as possible given the work going on right now,” Orlowski said.