PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — The orange barrel invasion of Pearl Road was expected to take place next year when the ODOT’s $10.9 million repaving of the busy thoroughfare visits Parma Heights.
However, fate had other plans on the morning of July 9 when a water main break gushed massive amounts of water at the intersection of Pearl Road and Olde York Road.
The busy street had to be closed down during rush hour with Cleveland Water Department crews onsite to fix the problem.
“I found out about it by waking up and turning the news on,” Parma Heights Mayor Michael P. Byrne said. “That’s how my day started. It looked as bad as it turned out. It’s just one of those things.
“You never know what you’re going to wake up to, and July 9 was a great example of that. Now, I’m very excited about getting it fixed.”
Parma Heights Director of Public Service Dennis P. Patten said Karvo Companies, which is the contractor for the Pearl Road ODOT project, will fix the area around the water main break next week with the Cleveland Water Department covering the cost.
“We’re going to get the road repaired and asphalt it over,” Patten said. “We’re keeping lanes open while we’re working from the center and then closing one side with the other side open. We’ll have a permanent repair all the way across so it’s nice when it’s done.”
Regarding the 12-inch water main in question, Patten said it was the worst break he’s seen in the dozen years he worked for the city.
“It was old and breaks happen for different reasons,” Patten said. “The heat and the cold do different things to a water line. Every once in a while you get a line that will break and it will blow the pavement up and everything goes.
“You just don’t know when they’re going to break. The pavement this time was rippled pretty good.”
As far as ODOT’s Pearl Road repaving, which started in Strongsville before working its way currently to Middleburg Heights, Patten said he thinks the extensive project will be in Parma Heights this year before finishing next year at Snow Road.
Parma Heights’ portion of the construction is $725,000.
“They’ll be coming to us around Sept. 1 over on W. 130th,” Patten said. “My guess is they’ll get to York Road at the end of this year. I just feel fortunate the recent water main break happened prior to the paving.”
Added Byrne, “That would have turned my stomach. That happens sometimes on side streets. It’s just not what you want after you’ve had road construction completed.”
Read more news from the Parma Sun Post here.
