SALEM Major projects to get under way soon

One goal is to try to alleviate flooding in parts of town.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- The city is eyeing long-planned traffic safety work, street repaving and municipal drainage system upgrades among its improvement projects this year.
Nearly $675,000 from the city's capital improvements fund may be spent on the undertakings, said Joe Julian, city service director.
Topping the list is work to begin in late spring or early summer on East State Street in the commercial district. The effort is aimed at smoothing traffic flow and improving motorists' safety.
To accomplish that will mean lowering Millville Hill by about a dozen feet. East State Street passes over the hill, whose crest interferes with the vision of motorists pulling into and out of stores in the commercial district, causing accidents.
Other parts of the project will include adding turning lanes and traffic signals.
Added urgency: City officials have envisioned the undertaking for years. The need for it has intensified, however, with plans to build a Wal-Mart later this year near Cunningham Road and East State Street.
The retailer's presence is expected to add traffic to an already busy thoroughfare.
Total cost of the largely state-funded East State Street project is about $1.2 million. The city's share is $400,000, about $150,000 of which was paid from last year's capital improvements budget. The remainder will be drawn from this year's.
Work is expected to take about six months.
Julian said he hopes that city workers can undertake two drainage projects later this year, each expected to cost about $40,000.