The start of Day 2 of Car-maggedon in Akron was largely Calm-aggedon.
But by afternoon rush hour, the massive road construction project put the brakes on the ride home for thousands of area drivers.
A couple of new closures greeted drivers Wednesday morning as part of the central interchange construction project.
As of 9 a.m., rush-hour traffic moved smoothly, with slowdowns in some spots, according to traffic cameras monitoring the highways. There were no accidents or other incidents hindering drivers.
During the afternoon rush hour, traffic cameras showed slow-moving traffic around the central interchange. Interstate 76 eastbound was at a complete standstill about 5:30 p.m.
One driver said she waited 40 minutes to get from Interstate 224 to the I-76E on ramp before giving up and going home via state Route 8.
Early Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Transportation closed the ramp from I-76 eastbound to I-77 southbound, in addition to the closures from Tuesday. The ramp from I-77 northbound to I-76 westbound is closed.
The state agency is urging motorists to use Interstate 277/U.S. Route 224 as a detour. ODOT has a “Do The Detour” website for the central interchange project.
Tuesday’s closures were largely non-events, traffic wise, for both morning and evening rush hours.
“We didn’t have any real big backups [Tuesday] morning,” ODOT spokesman Justin Chesnic said.
Starting early Tuesday morning, several ramps and lanes were closed at the highly traveled central interchange — the confluence of state Route 8 and Interstates 76 and 77 in Akron.
The work is part of a $15.6 million project to remove three bridges on I-76/I-77 over Johnston Street. The entire project is scheduled to be completed by late July 2017.
The closures are forcing many of the approximately 100,000 motorists who regularly use the interchange to take detours.
ODOT originally planned to start the highway project more than a week ago. But work was delayed at the last minute, with ODOT saying there wasn’t enough signage in place.
Here’s a rundown of the closures:
• I-76 between Grant Street and Inman Street is reduced to two lanes in each direction.
• The ramp from I-77 northbound to I-76 westbound is closed.
• The ramp from Route 8 southbound to I-77 northbound/I-76 westbound is closed.