Drivers in Munroe Falls will need to keep using detours a few weeks longer, after city officials set a new tentative opening date of November 10 for the state Route 91 bridge near Brust Park. The city posted the updated timeline on social media, and the Akron Beacon Journal reported the change on October 20. The bridge has been closed since June while crews working for the Ohio Department of Transportation complete the bridge project over the Cuyahoga River in Summit County.
Route 91 has remained closed to vehicle traffic between North River Road and Munroe Falls Avenue during the work. According to the Beacon Journal, ODOT officials attributed the delay to supply chain issues. The City of Munroe Falls project page had listed an expected completion date of October 15. A Summit County road work roundup published this week confirmed the closure runs through early November and listed the signed detour as state Route 261 to state Route 8 to state Route 59.
The next step comes this week. City officials said asphalt placement is scheduled for Friday, October 23, weather permitting. Once that paving is complete, access to the Sonoco gas station near the bridge will open from the north, restoring a direct route to a business that has sat between the bridge work and the nearby railroad tracks during the closure.
Two other projects are being completed in the same area at the same time. The city said its waterline repair project is expected to be complete, with pavement restored, by Friday, November 6. CSX, which owns the railroad tracks that run through Munroe Falls, is scheduled to start its crossing replacement on Monday, October 26. City officials said that work is expected to take one or two weeks, will run at the same time as the waterline repairs, and should be finished around November 6.
Some work will continue after traffic returns to the bridge. The city said delivery and installation of the remaining sanitary line is expected sometime between late November and mid-December. Painting of the bridge has been postponed until spring 2027, and city officials said that work is expected to cause minimal traffic impacts when it takes place next year.
The bridge stands next to Brust Park, home to an entrance for the Summit Metro Parks Bike and Hike Trail. In its project information, the city said the project would not affect access to the park. For drivers, however, the closure has covered the summer and most of the fall, and the November date means the detour will remain in place for several more weeks.
City officials described November 10 as a tentative opening date, so the schedule could still change if weather or the remaining work interferes. Until the bridge reopens, drivers should continue to follow the posted detour and allow extra travel time. The October 23 paving and the November 6 waterline and railroad crossing work will show whether the project stays on track for that opening.
Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic, CC BY-SA 4.0