Howe Avenue's concrete needs a serious fix.

That work begins Monday with two phases this summer and one in 2020, but you can still get to all the businesses in the area with a little extra effort.

First phase

From Monday to early June — about 35 days — Howe Avenue between Main Street and state Route 8 will be closed, with the Route 8 southbound entrance and northbound exit ramps to Howe Avenue also closed.

Thus, you won't be able to exit at Howe and head west toward restaurants and stores. You can still access Howe from the east and Main Street, although there will be some closures at Main and Howe.

The official detour for drivers on Route 8 is taking the Tallmadge Avenue exit, then using Home Avenue to get to Howe Avenue. Also during that time, one lane of traffic will be maintained in each direction on Main Street at Howe Avenue.

"We decided to close this completely for 35 days,” said Justin Chesnic, a public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation. “If we would have left one lane open, it would have been extremely congested, and traffic backs up onto Route 8, and that would've taken at least 90 days to do it that way, so we figure we'll get in, expedite it, get it done in 35 days, get the road open.”

Several portions of the Main Street and Howe Avenue intersection will close for seven days at a time: the west side of the intersection in mid-May, the southeast corner in late May and the northeast corner in late May or early June.

Second phase

After the first phase of work is done, Howe Avenue eastbound — the south side of the road — between Main Street and Buchholzer Boulevard will be closed for pavement replacement from June through late October.

Howe Avenue westbound — the north side of the road — will remain open throughout the duration of the project, meaning although you’ll be able to get from Tallmadge or other eastern areas to Akron just fine, you won’t be able to make the return journey using Howe Avenue.

Eastbound Howe Avenue traffic will be detoured from Main Street to Independence Avenue to Buchholzer Boulevard.

Next year

The work will stop this fall for the winter months — in time for the holiday shopping season — and start up again in the spring of 2020.

From May through September 2020, Howe Avenue eastbound between Main Street and Buchholzer Boulevard will again close for pavement replacement. The north side of the road — the westbound lanes — will be replaced during this phase, so westbound traffic will be diverted over into the eastbound lanes.

Additional information can be found on the Cuyahoga Falls city web site.