Prospect Road is scheduled to reopen over the Ohio Turnpike on October 23. That will be the first piece of Hudson's 2026 construction season to wrap up. The pieces built for walking are behind it. The sidewalks on the SR 91 bridge are set to stay closed until November. Crews pushed the Boston Mills Road path's bridge and boardwalk into fall. One section of the Barlow Farm Park Trail has been closed since September 24, and no reopening date has been posted.
Each project has its own reason for the timing. Taken together, the dates show that cars get their routes back first this fall, and pedestrians wait the longest for the projects the city invested the most in.
The fall calendar at a glance
These are the most recent dates the City of Hudson has posted as of October 2, 2026. Every one is a scheduled or forecast date, not a confirmed opening.
| Project | What's affected | Latest posted timing | City update dated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospect Road Turnpike bridge | Full road closure since May 4 | Reopening Oct 23, no later than Oct 31 | Sept 30, 2026 |
| SR 91 Turnpike bridge | Lane shifts and closed sidewalks | Full reopening late November | Sept 30, 2026 |
| Boston Mills Road path and Boston Mills Park | Park closed, path under construction | Completion forecast November 2026 | June 11 and July 22, 2026 |
| Barlow Farm Park Trail | Section near south end of soccer fields | No date posted | Sept 24, 2026 |
| DREAM Playground, Oak Grove Park | Open since Aug 9 | Open | Aug 6, 2026 |
Prospect Road is the first one back
Prospect Road closed to all traffic on Monday, May 4. The plan called for a 180-day closure. Count 180 days from May 4 and you land on October 31, which is the City's "required" reopening date for the bridge. So the October 23 target puts the road about a week ahead of the window the project began with.
The September 30 update reported that the new bridge deck had been poured, with the parapet walls scheduled for that Friday. Since spring, the detour has sent drivers to SR 91. The Akron Beacon Journal printed the connecting road as East Hines Hill Road. The detour ends when Prospect reopens. SR 91 won't be finished by then.
SR 91 kept carrying cars, but not people on foot
The SR 91 bridge over the Turnpike has been rebuilt one side at a time. In June, the City said the Ohio Turnpike Commission expected to finish the northbound lane in early July. Traffic would then move onto the new side while crews raised and rebuilt the southbound lane, with completion expected in November.
That plan kept the road open, which matters because SR 91 is also the Prospect detour route. It did not keep the sidewalks open. The City said they would stay closed until November "due to the limited work area."
The timeline has slipped since then. The September 30 update set the deck pour for mid-October with parapet walls after that, and said that "due to some project delays," SR 91 is now expected to fully reopen in late November. That means a month or more where Prospect is fully open again while the busier bridge nearby is still running on shifted lanes.
The Boston Mills path waits on a bridge and the power lines
The Boston Mills Road Multi-Use Path is the biggest walking project on Hudson's fall list. It is also the one with the most stages left. City Council approved a 3,500-foot asphalt trail, 10 feet wide, along the north side of Boston Mills Road. It starts at the existing trail west of Omni Lake Parkway and runs east to Lake Forest Drive. That is about two-thirds of a mile. Here is what the project adds:
- A stone loop inside Boston Mills Park
- A boardwalk, plus a separate pedestrian bridge over Lake Forest, the stretch of Brandywine Creek the path crosses
- A new five-foot sidewalk on the east side of Lake Forest Drive, from Boston Mills Road to Essex Road
- Recommended rectangular rapid-flashing-beacon crossings on Boston Mills Road at Westpoint Drive and Ridgewood Boulevard
Boston Mills Park is small. The City lists it at eight acres, about a mile northwest off Route 303. Before construction it had a one-sixth-mile walking trail, picnic tables and views over Lake Forest. The new loop and the bridge make it part of a connected route.
The cost is large for a two-thirds-mile path. In March 2025, City Council's staff report estimated construction at $2.5 million, including a 10% contingency. A later ordinance authorized up to $2.7 million in bonds for the trail, the park parking improvements and the bridge work. Council also accepted a $250,000 State of Ohio grant for the bridge.
The bridge is what sets the finish date. Work on the path began June 15. At that point the City said the water crossing would happen in the fall, with overall completion expected in November 2026. The latest status update is from July 22. It said gravel and restoration work in Boston Mills Park were done but the park was still closed. The trail from the western starting point to the park had been graded and stoned, with asphalt expected within weeks. Some of the bridge and boardwalk work requires the electric lines to be de-energized, which "pushes that construction into the fall." On Lake Forest Drive, the road work was substantially complete by June, and the remaining sidewalk was due within weeks of the July update.
The City has not posted a new status update or a reopening date for the park since July. November is still a forecast. The project page on the City's website is the place to check for the next update.
Barlow Farm is partly closed while Oak Grove has something new
The Barlow Farm closure is the newest one and has the least information. On September 24, the City closed the Barlow Farm Park Trail near the south end of the soccer fields while the parking lot is expanded, and said it "will post when the trail is reopened." The City lists Barlow Farm as a 60-acre active-recreation park. It has six soccer fields, four ball diamonds, 12 pickleball courts, five tennis courts and about two miles of multipurpose trail. The closure covers one part of that trail. Most of the park is unaffected.
Oak Grove Park, down the road, is the one spot where the new walking and play investment is already finished. The DREAM Playground opened there with a ribbon cutting at noon on Sunday, August 9. Play began at 12:30 p.m. The City described it as Summit County's first fully inclusive playground.
According to cleveland.com, the project took four years. Megan Higgins led it alongside parents, therapists, physicians, educators and disability advocates working as the Hudson Inclusive Playground Organization. The project cost about $2.6 million, close to the bond authorization for the Boston Mills path. Private donations raised by a group of nearly 20 people topped $550,000. The Park Board added $400,000, Summit County Developmental Disabilities $430,000, and a grant backed by state senators $680,000. Features include poured-in-place rubber surfacing, ramps up to the raised play areas, adaptive swings, a wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round, an accessible zip line, sensory play elements and quiet spaces.
Oak Grove is busy in October, so expect some short closures. The City closed the Oak Grove Park Trail by the new playground from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on September 28 for tree work. The Hudson Jaycees also run the Hudson Haunted House at the park.
Where the fall calendar meets the construction
The fall events fall on both sides of the October 23 and late-November dates:
- Hudson Farmers Market: final Saturday is October 10, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on the Clocktower and Gazebo Greens.
- Hudson Haunted House at Oak Grove Park: select days through October 31, according to the September Celebrate Hudson newsletter. An earlier Destination Hudson listing gave October 30 as the last night, so check with the Jaycees before you go.
- Halloween Windows and Pumpkin Patch: listed for Friday, October 23, hosted by the Hudson PTO, with more details to come. That is also Prospect Road's scheduled reopening day.
- Merchant Trick or Treat: Thursday, October 29, 5 to 7 p.m.
- Citywide Hudson Trick-or-Treat: Saturday, October 31, 6 to 8 p.m. That is also the latest required date for Prospect to reopen, and the SR 91 sidewalks are still expected to be closed.
- Hudson Holiday Walk: Sunday, December 6, noon to 4 p.m., on the First and Main Green, with cocoa, crafts, performances, wagon rides and a NEOPAT toy drive. If the late-November forecasts hold, it will be the first community event after both Turnpike bridges and the Boston Mills path are finished.
If you live near one of these projects and wonder how it could affect a sale or purchase you're planning for next year, I'm glad to go over the timing with you. At Katerina Alix, I follow City updates like these as they're posted, and I'll tell you plainly what has actually been confirmed. Let's Connect.
