LORDSTOWN Paving to begin on 2 area roads

Installation began on sanitary sewers last fall.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Relief for travelers of two village roads may be just weeks away.
Council President Richard Biggs said the contractor, Utility Contracting of Youngstown, is expected to start paving on South Leavitt and Hewitt-Gifford roads in about three weeks. Work will be done on the length of South Leavitt and on Hewitt-Gifford between South Leavitt and Palmyra Road.
The roads were torn up as part of the sanitary-sewer project in the village's northwest corner.
"A few people have been getting a bit agitated, and I can understand that," Biggs said. "With no pavement, there's just the gravel, and you get potholes."
Residents' views: Mabel Perry of South Leavitt said the road's condition hasn't been too much of an inconvenience, however.
"You have to overlook some problems to get what you need in the end," she said. "You can't really get mad with modern things going on."
Another South Leavitt resident expressed a similar sentiment.
"It's just uncomfortable," said Patricia Hionas, adding that the road is passable.
"If you've ever lived in the country, you've been on washboard roads. That's what it's like. It's a little unpleasant, but where else can you add a utility without causing some problem? It's not something you can't live with," she added.
The project: Work on the more than $2 million sanitary-sewer project started last fall. The contractor is installing 6.6 miles of sanitary sewers.
"The project is going very well," Biggs said. "I'd say it's about 50-percent done."
The contractor ran into problems earlier because the soil, which has a siltlike consistency, is difficult to work with.
The installation is the latest in the village's sanitary-sewer program, which has been in progress for the last several years. Sewers were installed on and near Lyntz and Bailey roads in 1999.
The next area could be around state Route 45 and Tait Road.
"We'll look at that next summer and then, at that time, maybe move to the east side" of the village, Biggs added.
dick@vindy.com