CLEVELAND– Drivers in downtown Cleveland are bound to find a bit more stop and go traffic these days.  Construction crews waste no time.  One major road repair project and another one begins.

With the Ontario Street repairs complete, a new Cuyahoga County Public Works project has started. This one involves the resurfacing of East 9th Street from Carnegie Avenue to North Marginal Road.

Julie Rylow works downtown and found it a bit challenging just walking down East 9th Street. “It’s a mess right now, but it needs to be done. So you just need to tolerate it,” she said.

The repaving of East 9th involves completely replacing the asphalt surface.

Crews are now working on the section between Carnegie and Prospect Avenues.

Tom Sotak, chief construction engineer with the Cuyahoga County Dept. of Public Works said the project presents a challenge because of the amount of traffic and the number of utility castings along East Ninth Street.  “There’s a great deal of utility castings that have to be adjusted to grade as well. It’s numerous, hundreds of them, both public and private that have to be coordinated for the private utility companies to come and do their work, as well,” Sotak said.

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Traffic is affected in both directions on East 9th. Crews are working on the southbound lanes with plans to start repaving on the northbound lanes on Monday.

Mike Webb had no idea the work was going on until he turned down East Ninth Street on his way to an appointment.  “I know a lot of people are going to be having headaches, trying to get through this traffic. I know I am going to be avoiding it for some time,” he added.

While the work is going on, drivers should consider using East 18th and East 21st streets to get in and out of downtown.

The East 9th resurfacing project is scheduled to be completed by the end of October.