AKRON, Ohio — A well-known and well-traveled Akron bridge has some drivers concerned. The All-American Bridge, known locally as the "Y" bridge, connects downtown Akron to North Hill.
"I noticed a giant crack in the side of the Y bridge," said Joshua Snyder.
Snyder snapped pictures of what he thought was a crack in the bridge that took Facebook by storm.
"I was actually on my way to pick my son up from school, and I went under the bridge, and when I stopped at Howard Street, I looked up from the light, and you could see the crack clear as day from the side. And the further I drove under it, the worse it got," said Snyder.
The pictures gained so much attention that the City of Akron took to social media to set the record straight.
"People are really concerned about the crack, which is actually just part of the structure of the bridge," said Stephanie Marsh, communications for the City of Akron.
The "crack" is a design the city calls a pin and hanger assembly. It is hard to see from the ground or in your car, but it creates an expansion joint in the bridge that moves with the change in weather.
"So, it actually prevents that breakage that you might see otherwise. So, it is meant as a safety feature, so the bridge is working appropriately, it's behaving as it should and it is safe for folks to drive on," said Marsh.
The bridge was finished in 1982 and is regularly inspected by ODOT.
"We don't want anyone to be concerned that the bridge they're traveling on is going to crumble underneath them obviously so happy to correct that rumor and clear up any concerns that folks have," said Marsh.
"If that's what it is and it's safe to drive over, then it's safe, I'm not an architect, I couldn't tell you one way or the other. I hope that it is safe. There are millions of pounds of steel that go across that bridge daily," said Snyder.
Snyder is one of the people who drives over the bridge every day for work and is curious about its upkeep. He didn't know many other drivers in Akron were, too.
"It was never meant to scare anybody or perturb anybody who drives over it. It was just a concern from me, and I wanted to see what everybody else thought," said Snyder.
