NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio — The Center Ridge project was supposed to be wrapped up at the end of 2019, but now it’s not expected to wrap up until Thanksgiving.
Take a spin down Center Ridge Road in North Ridgeville and you won’t miss the construction.
"It's a mess, we haven't been able to wash the windows or anything,” said Mike Gas, of Michael G’s Florist.
The street is lined with orange barrels in the heart of the business district, an increase in crashes along the busy road is the reason for the widening project.
"The number of businesses you have that are along the route, people slowing down and turning into them, that's what causes some accidents as well,” said North Ridgeville Mayor Kevin Corcoran.
Construction was originally expected to be done last year, but Mayor Corcoran said the project hit a speed bump when the company failed to move utility poles in time.
"They own all the telephone poles that are on the whole route. And they have most of the utilities that are on those poles. Unfortunately, they did not move the poles when they were supposed to. They didn't move their utility lines when they were supposed to. So that pushed the project back,” said Mayor Corcoran.
Michael G’s Florist fortunately hasn’t felt the pain in its pocketbook because as of right now, customers are still able to get around construction vehicles.
"It hasn't, it's been easy. They let you in and out, they're nice about everything. They watch for everybody's cars,” said Gas.
At first it was slated as a two-year project, but unfortunately, it’s turned into longer than anticipated.
News 5 has reached out to the company responsible for those poles to find out what caused the delay in getting them moved.
