Route 531 work progressing
Apr. 24—NORTH KINGSVILLE — The installation of erosion protection along Route 531 is on schedule, as the Ohio Department of Transportation seeks to re-open the road before Memorial Day.
Route 531 was closed west of Route 193, at the Ashtabula Township-North Kingsville border at the end of November 2022, due to erosion encroaching on the roadway. Since then, Route 531 has been closed between LaBounty Road and just west of Route 193.
Sheet piling has been installed along the shoreline in that area, and in March, Route 531 was closed near the intersection with Monday Drive for the same process.
Brian Dell, a project engineer with ODOT, said work has been on schedule, and is expected to be completed on time.
Steel sheet pilings are driven into the ground, then a drain is installed in front of it, which directs the water out into the lake.
The contractor needs to install about 200 additional feet of sheet piling on the west side of the work site at Monday Drive, Dell said.
"We did have a little bit of a delay here and there, because of the weather," he said.
Wind gusts above 20 miles per hour can cause the sheet pilings to move quite a bit, Dell said.
"It's the [crane] operator and the superintendent's call to shut it down," he said.
The wind can quickly turn nasty along the lake shore, Dell said.
Work on the western section of Route 531 that is closed is nearly done, he said.
ODOT spokesperson Justin Chesnic said some aspects are still being examined in that area.
"We've noticed where we put some of the sheet piling in, there's still some erosion occurring around there, so we're going to take a look at things," he said. "Right now, we know for sure [the east] side looks good to open [at] the end of May, and we should be good to go there. But over there, we're going to keep monitoring, and we don't have a firm time frame."
ODOT does not want to open the road prematurely and continue to have a problem in the area, Chesnic said.
"Safety's going to take priority over convenience every time," he said. "No matter if it's a bridge, a road, whatever it is, our job is to make sure the motoring public is safe."
Chesnic said ODOT is planning a revetment project to provide long-term erosion protection for the road.
The project would include bringing in large stones and setting them along the shoreline, then stacking smaller stones on top of them, progressing up the slope, he said.
"We're working on getting the permits now, through the Army Corps of Engineers and the Ohio EPA," Chesnic said. "That takes at least a year, to get those permits, so we're hoping by next May or June, we have the permits for that. And it's probably a $20 to $30 million project, right around $25 million, I would say."
If ODOT can secure the funding, Chesnic said he hopes the revetment project can start in 2026.
Revetments typically last for at least 50 years, he said.
Dell said some additional repairs will have to be done to the road because of damage caused by the heavy equipment that is being used for the repairs.
"It seems like traffic is pretty well-adjusted to both closures," he said. "We have a lot of signage, as far as detours and closures, and we've added signage as well."
There are signs along Route 193 northbound letting drivers know the road is closed in both directions, as well as signs in Ashtabula and Conneaut warning motorists of the closures.
