PLYMOUTH — The bridge at West Broadway Street and Baseline Road in Plymouth has been closed for more than three years.
Ashland Railway closed the bridge in July 2022 due to safety concerns. It’s been a thorn in the village’s side ever since.
“You’ve probably been made aware that this bridge is the bane of my community’s existence since the railroad closed it,” Plymouth Mayor Cassaundra Fryman told the Richland County Regional Planning Commission during its meeting Wednesday.
Progress to replace the bridge has been made over the past few years. In October 2023, the Ohio Department of Transportation awarded a municipal bridge replacement grant of over $1.7 million to the village.
The the Ohio Rail Development Commission has also pledged $250,000 to the project and Ashland Railway has offered to contribute in-kind services, which will save Plymouth around $200,000, Fryman estimated.
However, the estimated cost of the project has ballooned as a more realistic scope of work has been developed. As of May 2025, village officials estimated the project would cost $2.1 million. That number now sits at $3.5 million — a $1.4 million increase.
The village is now seeking a $500,000 grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission due to the increase in costs, as well as to cover any additional expenses the project may incur.
What caused the estimate to increase?
Fryman said the $1.4 million increase in costs to replace the bridge — which was constructed in 1950 — is ultimately due to the necessary engineering that has gone into the project.
She said the soil and landscape around the bridge tested poorly.
“There’s no drainage down there, is part of it, and just making sure that the vibrations from the tracks isn’t going to cause an issue with the supports that they’re putting in,” the mayor said.
The logistics of moving village utility infrastructure, including electric, cable, internet, water and gas, is also costly, she said.
“It’s a more accurate picture of what’s going to be needing done,” Fryman said. “The original estimate is basically just eyeballing it. You’re looking at it and you’re getting a rough idea of what it’s going to entail.”
The mayor said the new cost projection of $3.5 million is a cautious overestimate.
“When we have nuts and bolts right now, it’s about $3.1 million all together. That is not set in stone and it’s subject to change,” Fryman said.
OPWC grant specifics
The village is specifically seeking the $500,000 OPWC grant at the district level.
Richland County belongs to District 16, which includes seven other counties competing for those OPWC funds — Hardin, Wyandot, Seneca, Crawford, Marion, Ashland and Wayne.
Fryman said Plymouth decided to decline its opportunity to seek OPWC dollars at the county level, which is a smaller pot of money.
“Because our project scores so high with the type of grant that we’re seeking, our odds are very good that we will have success with this application — which is why we forfeit our attempt at the county level,” she said.
“We can pretty much fund all of the other (Richland) county requests if we abstain from that (county level OPWC) pot (of money).”
Should the village receive its full grant request from OPWC, the mayor said Plymouth may still need to consider some other funding options by the end of the project to ensure as much of the costs as possible is covered.
Construction estimated to start summer 2026
According to a summary of the project Fryman presented to Regional Planning on Wednesday, the proposed bridge over Ashland Railway will be a three span concrete slab bridge.
From curb to curb, it will be 32 feet wide with a pedestrian walkway and approach slabs.
Approximately 200 feet of approach pavement will be reconstructed, including sidewalk, to meet the existing pavement. Mechanically Stabilized Earth retaining walls are needed on the west approach to meet the existing ground line in front of homes along Baseline Road/West Broadway Street.
Fryman said the village hopes to begin the process of bidding out the project to a contractor by the end of this year and going into January 2026.
“We’re hoping to have construction start summer of 2026,” the mayor said.