FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- A few months after joining the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Municipal Bridge Inspection Program, Fairview Park was recently awarded a $665,800 Ohio Bridge Partnership Program grant.

The funds are earmarked for the proposed $815,800 West 227th Street replacement bridge over Coe Creek, with the city covering the balance. The project is scheduled for 2021.

“We’re the only municipality in Cuyahoga County to receive (Ohio Bridge Partnership Program) funding,” Mayor Patrick Cooney said. “The bridge -- which has a culvert underneath -- is displaced and unstable to the point where our safety vehicles and heavy vehicles can’t go over.”

Calling the West 227th Street structure a bridge is being generous, considering it’s somewhat unremarkable, forgettable and easily missed. The same description goes for Coe Creek, which comes into the southwest corner of Fairview Park from North Olmsted.

“I’m familiar with the bridge because I live right around the corner,” Cooney said. “We go for walks over it, but if you just drove by it, you wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

“Still, the sidewalks are off-kilter and the guardrail and the cement are flaking away. It’s generally unstable.," he said.

"Overall, it’s a very big expense. And from a structural standpoint, it’s important.”

The mayor said engineering will begin soon. This includes exploring whether water-flow capacity during peak storm events can be expanded.

“There’s a structural component, but we’re also looking at an environmental component, as (Coe Creek) leads into the watershed to the Rocky River and out to Lake Erie,” Cooney said.

As far as the city joining ODOT’s Municipal Bridge Inspection Program, last year, four city bridges over Coe Creek were inspected after the service department expressed concern about deterioration. The study recommended that the weight limit be lowered on each bridge.

“Coe Creek is where most of the bridges are in the city,” Cooney said. “With Fairview Park being in this bridge inspection program, we hope to identify any future problems.”

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