UPDATED: Taylor Road Construction, Traffic Pattern Changes Delayed

Updated at 3:15 p.m. Monday, published at 6 a.m. March 26.

Phase I traffic pattern changes and major construction have been delayed.

The Ohio Department of Transportation sent a press release Friday and wrote that a new start date is not confirmed yet. Crews need to continue preliminary work that began a couple of weeks ago, according to the press release.

Construction on the 1.5-mile portion of the road that Mayor Ed Kelley calls the worst in Cuyahoga County was originally . Then it was pushed because officials weren't sure if state money to fix the road would be included in Gov. John Kasich's new budget. Then the project was .

Cleveland Heights and Ohio Department of Transportation officials spoke at a public meeting to address residents' questions and concerns. At that time, they planned to start work in April and finish by September.

City Manager Robert Downey spoke about the history of the plan, which began in 2002, at the November meeting. The city envisioned grass medians, benches and specialized lighting in its initial proposal, he said, but officials had to revise it when no one would help pay for the more than $7 million project.

Engineers from Wade Trim redesigned the plans to bring the price down to $5 million, but the construction company hired for the job, Perk, said it could complete the work for $3.6 million. The federal government will foot 80 percent of the bill, and the rest is paid for by several entities, said City Councilwoman Bonnie Caplan, including the state and county governments, as Taylor Road is not a city street. The road should have the typical 20-year lifespan.

Taylor from Euclid Heights Boulevard to Bayreuth Road will be resurfaced, broken curbs will be repaired and drains will get an upgrade. The road will also be narrowed from seven lanes to five from Euclid Heights to Mayfield Road. The extra space will be allocated to the east side, where sits.

Several residents who attended the November meeting and live across from Severance said they didn't like the new plans. They want the extra greenspace on their side, the residential side.

"We thought we were going to get nice greenspace and lighting," said Linda Jenkins, who has lived on South Taylor Road for nearly 30 years. She's concerned about the safety of children who play in the front lawns there. "It’s like we’ve been exed out, and it’s insulting."

One neighbor has taken the city to court over the project.

Cleveland Heights resident Doug Whipple says the city was required to have an environmental hearing before starting the work and finalizing the plans. His concern is the portion from Mayfield Road to Euclid Heights Boulevard.

"We have some real concerns about flooding because of the way they designed the narrowing of the road. We think that the city should have asked for public input on the environmental impact, whether it was required or not," Whipple said. "We are very disturbed that it was in writing years ago that there was supposed to be an environmental public hearing."

Cleveland Heights Law Director John Gibbon said because the new project is primarily a resurfacing project, an environmental hearing is not required. Gibbon filed a motion for summary judgment a few weeks ago to ask that the case be dismissed without going through a trial.

Gibbon said ODOT and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency agreed the environmental hearing was not required.

"In any event, this project is going forward," he said.

Whipple filed the lawsuit in November in hopes their would be a resolution before work began.

Ideally, he'd like the construction to start on the north end of Mayfield until the lawsuit comes to a conclusion. He filed a brief last week and said there is still some conflicts in evidence.

And he wants the city to at least close one lane on the residential side of the street to increase residents' tree lawns there.

The plans also call for the traffic light at the Severance service road between Mayfield and Euclid Heights to be removed. Forty driveway aprons will be replaced and ramps will be modified to meet ADA requirements.

There will be at least one southbound and one northbound lane open during all phases of the construction and the work will start at 7 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. weekdays. Delays could require weekend work, but ODOT does not foresee that.

Once Phase I of the project begins, it will shift traffic to the east side of Taylor Road and drivers will be able to use the following lanes:

• Between Euclid Heights Boulevard and Mayfield Road, one southbound lane and two northbound lanes
• Between Mayfield Road and Monticello Boulevard. one southbound lane, one northbound lane and one dual-center turning lane
• Between Monticello Boulevard and Bayreuth Road, one southbound lane and one northbound lane

And at the following Taylor Road intersections there will the dedicated turn lanes: 

• Euclid Heights Boulevard: there will be dedicated left turn lanes on north and southbound Taylor Road for access to Euclid Heights Boulevard 
• Mayfield Road: there will be a dedicated left turn lane on southbound Taylor Road and a dedicated right turn lane on northbound Taylor Road for access Mayfield Road
• Monticello Boulevard: there will be a dedicated left turn lane on northbound Taylor Road for access to Monticello Boulevard

A full schedule and more details about the work is available on the city's website.

Editor's note: Linda Jenkins is a blogger on Cleveland Heights Patch.