CLEVELAND -- The Ohio Department of Transportation says Wednesday morning's traffic jam on Interstate 90 eastbound was the fault of a company contracted for resurfacing work.
An ODOT spokesperson says Burton Scot failed to abide by its contract, which requires its crews to have all lanes of I-90 reopened by 6 a.m.
A spokesperson issued the following statement:
"We understand the severe impact of their actions. ODOT will continue to address this with the contractor, which includes documentation of incidents on the contractor's evaluation and fines for not following contract requirements. Contractor evaluations are provided at the conclusion of each ODOT project. Burton Scot's actions will adversely impact their rating and will determine future work with the state."
ODOT issued a second statement Wednesday afternoon, noting that the Burton Scot employee in charge of the project will be removed and the company may be fined:
"ODOT shares the frustrations of commuters who have been impacted by these delays. We are taking steps to remove and replace the Burton Scot employee that has been directly overseeing the project’s daily operations. At this time, the fines for this morning’s work have not been finalized, however, we are looking into our contract and our ability to assess additional, more significant fines.
"It is important to remember the work being performed to replace the pavement on this stretch of I-90 is a critical job that needs to be completed before the winter. For this reason, ODOT is not pursuing its authority to remove the contractor from the job. Due to the legal restrictions of how highway constructions contracts must be awarded, there is simply not enough time to complete that process and have the work completed by the end of the year. These incidents will, however, adversely impact the rating which will determine Burton Scot’s ability to perform future work with the state.
"We will continue to work closely with the contractor and maximize our authority under the contract to ensure this situation does not occur again."
A similar issue happened two weeks ago, when morning traffic toward downtown Cleveland became backed up from all directions. At that time, ODOT issued a statement saying Burton Scot failed to meet the same requirements, ending that statement with, "We will be assessing penalties and taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again."
Burton Scot released a statement of their own Wednesday afternoon, admitting to the delays but blaming it on equipment issues:
"Burton Scot sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience motorists experienced this morning on I-90. Our skilled teams have been working diligently to comply with ODOT requirements. Unfortunately, we experienced unexpected problems with a machine, and Burton Scot used all means necessary to protect its workers and the traveling public. We are committed to ODOT and safety is always our paramount objective."
This is not the first time Burton Scot has been in the news: Last year, records seized in an FBI raid at Cleveland City Hall showed the company received a total of $9.4 million for two separate jobs. The investigation reportedly centered around city Office of Capital Projects Construction Inspection chief Khalil Ewais. Burton Scot, at the time, pledged to "fully cooperate with the authorities as their investigation unfolds."