Ohio 163 in Marblehead to undergo $490,000 in repairs

MARBLEHEAD - Main Street in Marblehead is getting a much-needed makeover after being clobbered by several strong nor’easter storms in the spring.

This week, District 2 of the Ohio Department of Transportation announced a repair project along Ohio 163, or Main Street, in Marblehead, which is set to begin Monday. The project will repair erosion on Ohio 163, north of Cottage Cove Drive, caused by major storms earlier this year, according to a news release from ODOT. The project is being handled by Mosser Construction, of Fremont, and is estimated to cost $490,228. Due to the ongoing work on the project, Ohio 163 will be closed north of Cottage Cove Drive. The local detour includes South Quarry Road, Hartshorn Road and East Bayshore Road. The project is expected to continue through August, according to ODOT, and all work is weather permitting. In April, the Cottage Cove area in Marblehead was hit so hard by a Lake Erie storm that portions of the bike path facing the water were almost completely washed away, according to Mayor Jacqueline Bird. Over that weekend, April 14-15, so much debris washed ashore from the lake in that area that the road was impassable. Officers went door to door, notifying residents that the road was being closed and advising them to seek a police escort if they needed to leave the area. Some observers reported seeing waves 8 to 10 feet high along the lakeshore. Marblehead was hit with a strong storm in March as well. In addition to portions of the bike path, the storms left major structural damage undermining the road on Ohio 163, Bird said.