Thursday, March 7, 2002
The county would also like to fix a dangerous intersection.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- The Columbiana County Engineer's Office is trying to land a grant that would allow it to make improvements in the area surrounding a historical covered bridge.
County commissioners approved a resolution Wednesday supporting the effort.
The engineer's office is seeking a $100,000 state grant that would enable it to build paved parking areas along Eagleton Road in Salem Township.
The parking would serve visitors to the Teegarden Centennial Covered Bridge, a span built in 1896 that's being renovated.
For trail users: Parking also would serve those using the nearby Greenway Trail, a 12-mile hike-bike path between Lisbon and Leetonia.
Besides a paved parking lot, the engineer's office also would use the money to build a decorative stone wall around the lot and to make a hike-bike path between the covered bridge and the Greenway Trail, a distance of about 200 yards.
The money is being sought through the Natural Resources Advisory Council's District 14, a public, multicounty agency.
The council makes available state money for projects intended to promote parks, wildlife habitats, stream preservation and other environmentally related undertakings.
District 14 will receive about $1.9 million from the state in each of the next four years for projects within the district.
Counties in district: Besides Columbiana County, the district is made up of Jefferson, Carroll, Harrison, Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Coshocton and Holmes counties.
Columbiana County Commissioner Jim Hoppel serves on the District 14 board, which will review more than a dozen grant requests that have been made to the district this year.
Hoppel said grants could be awarded in about a month.
If the county gets the grant, it would try to do the work this summer.
In other business, commissioners agreed to hire Richland Engineering of Mansfield to develop plans for realigning a dangerous intersection south of Salem.
The company will be paid $22,999 from the county's road and bridge fund for the work.
The county engineer's department wants to fix the intersection of Depot and Woodsdale roads in Butler Township.
The two roads intersect at a tight angle near the crest of a hill, making the site unsafe for motorists, explained Bob Durbin, deputy county engineer.
Remedying the problem would involve realigning the roads to meet at a 90-degree angle.
Cost of the project has yet to be determined, Durbin said.
If the work is done, it probably would take place in summer 2003, he said.