East Liverpool bridge closure causing traffic hassles, slows business at restaurants
A bridge closure in Columbiana County is causing major traffic back ups for typically quiet cities. Crews closed the Jennings Randolph bridge on Monday after finding cracks in the welding during an inspection.
The bridge takes US Route 30 over the Ohio River and connects East Liverpool to Chester, West Virginia.
“Depending on the time of day like three o'clock it’s, it’s terrible,” Richard Ford, who lives in Chester said about the traffic the closure has caused.
The next closest option for drivers to get around is the Wayne Six toll bridge four miles away that a lot more people are using.
“It was a pretty long wait in the line before I got over there,” Ford said.
The toll bridge is directly across from the East Liverpool Hospital. Rates for the toll are $1 for cars, single rear wheel pickups, $2 for dual rear wheel pickup and SRW trucks with trailers, and $3 for large trucks and DRW trucks with trailers. The weight limit is 10 tons and semi trucks are prohibited.
Since the bridge has closed, restaurants on the West Virginia side have seen less customers.
“Everybody doesn't want to have to go around the toll bridge and have to come back up here. We saw a drop of at least half our customers” Edna Cunningham, the owner of EJ’s Restaurant said. “Some of our regulars haven't been in … we've had people had to call in orders cause they were stuck in traffic and canceled everything they ordered.”
The unusual amount of traffic from the detour is making getting around to the simplest places, like work, a hassle.
“15 minutes is what it used to take. I had a girl come in today and said it took her 30 minutes,” Cunningham said about one of her employees commutes.
“It’s been pretty tough for most people especially when you're just used to just zooming across the bridge,” Ford said.
ODOT has set up another detour if people don’t want to take the toll bridge. The signs will direct drivers from Ohio Route 7 South to Steubenville, to US 22 East toward Interstate 376 North and back to US 30. Another bridge over the Ohio River is in Weirton.
Crews in West Virginia are responsible for repairs and they could not tell us when the bridge will reopen.
