Three local bridges will receive state money to help rehab or repair them.

There are so many bridges around here (many with “Main Street” in the name), Signal Akron called Joe Paradise from the Summit County Engineer’s office and Chris Ludle, Akron’s director of public service, to be sure the right bridges were included.

North Main Street Bridge

The 75-year-old North Main Street Bridge that is in the first stages of being replaced. The Summit County Engineer’s office received $5 million to help design the new bridge. Also known as the High Level Bridge, it’s the largest one in the county and crosses the huge gorge created by the Cuyahoga River. The bridge takes drivers to the Cuyahoga Falls border, where North Main Street becomes State Road.

Lots of area folks will remember when its roadway was a steel grid and it made a sing-songy noise when cars drove over it – people used to call it the “Singing Bridge” – before it was paved with concrete. 

Paradise said the total design cost will be close to $9 million, with a total cost of $70 million for the entire project.

High & Main Street Bridge over Rosa Parks Drive

The High & Main Street Bridge over Rosa Parks Drive near the GOJO headquarters building and AAA Akron’s downtown office will receive $808,319. Most people don’t realize they’re on a bridge as they’re driving over it, since it doesn’t cross a body of water.

Ludle, the director of public service, said the money will pay for about 95% of the needed work on the span. The work will include structural repair and rehab of the beams, seals and expansion joints, along with concrete patching on the abutments and miscellaneous concrete repairs on the bridge’s piers.

The University Avenue Bridge

The University Avenue Bridge, built in 1928 over the CSX railroad tracks near what is now E.J. Thomas Hall, will receive $1,502,382. The money will be used to replace the deck overlay expansion joints that are failing. It will also replace approach slabs as well as upgrade the sidewalks.

Akron also received $550,000 in 2023 to rehabilitate the Kent Street Bridge.

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.