Plans made to fix collapsed areas along popular roads in Mill Creek Park

 

In August, we told you the story of Youngstown’s Brett Wilson, who got a ticket along with two friends for walking beyond a barrier on a closed stretch of Mill Creek Park’s E. Newport Drive.

The popular route has been collapsing since last spring.

We called the Mill Creek police chief on Monday to see if they were still issuing tickets but have not heard back.

That closed section of road has been an inconvenience for hikers and bikers. A lot of people want to know when it will be fixed.

“I get the emails and the phone calls regularly. We understand it’s been an inconvenience for everyone. It’s been an inconvenience for us,” said Justin Rogers, planning and operations director for Mill Creek MetroParks.

The bids have already gone out and there’s already a contractor to fix. Rogers said fixing the road will cost around $400,000.

“We think some groundwater’s causing it to slide. So what we’ll do is construct a wall on the lake side, drive some pilings down into solid rock, build that wall up, backfill and then rebuild the roadway behind it,” Rogers said.

It looks like construction will begin in late spring and hopefully, this stretch of road will be open and ready for use two to three months after that.

An area three and a half miles north, at a small stretch of E. Glacier Drive where it intersects with Glenwood Avenue, has also collapsed. Here, only one lane is closed and not the entire road. It won’t be fixed until next year.

“We’re monitoring it regularly and if it does worsen then we’ll be forced to make a decision on the road,” Rogers said.

Not only will this little stretch of road be fixed later on this year, but we also learned the entire stretch of E. Newport Drive from Shields to Kiwatha will be paved. So, this road will be virtually brand new before the year is over.

Full article at wkbn.com