Cleveland weather is bringing a days-long Ohio heatwave, and ODOT is watching for pavement buckling later in the week. Matt Bruning said the agency is looking for roads to buckle after several days of lower mid-90s and maybe even upper 90s heat.
At a July 1 press event, Bruning said, "It's nothing that you can plan for. It's nothing that you can try to work to prevent somehow," and added that buckling happens when roadway materials expand until the pavement has no more room left to move.
Matt Bruning and ODOT
Bruning said there is no particular area of Ohio that is more prone to buckled roads. He said, "It's literally anywhere. I mean, it's where you see long periods of intense heat like we've seen here this week. I would suspect that if it were to happen, it would probably be later in the week where we've had now a couple of days in the lower mid-90s and maybe even the upper 90s," tying the risk to the stretch of heat already in place.
The practical step for Drivers in Ohio is simple: report a buckled road to ODOT or the Ohio State Highway Patrol by calling #677. That gives the state a way to get a hazard marked and addressed after it appears, rather than waiting for a separate notice.
Ohio State Highway Patrol
ODOT is also removing orange barrels on road projects where it can for the holiday weekend to improve traffic flow. The agency said that is not possible on major projects like the Interstates 70 and 71 work through downtown Columbus, so some work zones will stay in place even as other sites are opened up.
For Drivers in Ohio heading into the holiday weekend, the safest read is that the heat risk is not confined to one corridor, and the state is preparing for it with both monitoring and quicker reporting. If pavement starts to rise or separate, #677 is the first call, and the busiest work zones in Columbus will keep their barriers even as other projects are cleared back.
