SOUTH BOARDMAN -- The bridge project on US-131 has been underway for almost seven months, and MDOT officials say that they are on pace to finish the bridge before Memorial Day.
“The project is progressing as planned. We are doing our deck pours now,” said MDOT Manager Richard Liptak.
Since the bridge closed last fall, businesses in South Boardman have seen their sales bottom out. Some businesses have even closed down.
“The Furniture Warehouse is gone. The restaurant is gone. Both are out of business. The hotel…they are having a very had time and have spoke about closing,” said Fred Schlosser, owner of the Country Store.
Schlosser has also taken a hit. His shop, the County Store, has seen sales drop about 60% in the last year. He said the defect is a direct result of the bridge closure.
“The traffic that comes off the highway is what we are. We are a tourism town,” Schlosser said.
MDOT officials said they are unhappy to hear that the bridge has caused trouble for businesses, but they said there is little they can do to prevent it.
“We have to do this work. Otherwise, if the bridge failed it would be out even longer, so we try to minimize our closures, our time there and try to get that back up and running as soon as we can,” Liptak said.
Business owners in South Boardman are now hoping that their customers will return when the bridge reopens at the end of May.
