HOWLAND Intersection almost ready

The contractor is required to fix the catch basin and curbing.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- After a year of off-and-on construction, and some backtracking, soon the only impediment to traffic at Howland-Wilson and Warren-Sharon roads will be a working traffic signal.
"We expect it to be substantially completed by the end of this week," said Randy Smith, deputy Trumbull County engineer.
Work to widen roads leading into the busy intersection began late last year but was halted by winter weather, Smith added.
Since resuming this summer, the contractor on the job, Gennaro Pavers of Warren, was asked to redo 105 feet of freshly installed curb.
"We had a joke that this was going to be the most expensive intersection in North America," said Jim DeGood, co-owner of Gibson DeGood Insurance Agency, located on Warren-Sharon Road (also variously known as old state Route 82 and East Market Street). "There has been more people looking at plans and scratching their heads."
What went wrong: Two weeks ago, inspectors from the county engineer's department discovered that the curbing and a catch basin were laid at the wrong elevation, Smith explained.
Gennaro will have to eat the cost of fixing it.
"I don't believe there will be any cost to the county," he added.
siff@vindy.com