NILES South side safety plans are in place

The contingency is to protect Niles' south side during bridge replacement.
NILES -- Mayor Ralph A. Infante has established emergency contingency plans when construction begins to replace the Main Street viaduct.
Construction of the $5.6 million span over the Mahoning River, between State and Second streets, will take about two years. Work is to begin Monday.
Two-way traffic will be maintained during construction. In late May, traffic will be reduced to two 11-foot-wide lanes.
In the event of a crash on the bridge, a fire department vehicle will be dispatched to the south side of the city to stand by in case of a fire alarm during traffic congestion.
Also in the event of an emergency on the bridge, a police vehicle will stand by on the south side.
Alternative routes to the south side will be the Belmont Avenue bridge, with an additional backup route using Austintown-Warren and Salt Springs roads.
Delays expected
Infante said that even though traffic will be flowing in both directions, motorists should expect delays.
"Though we hope that delays will be short, cooperation of the community by rerouting to avoid delays will greatly expedite the flow of traffic during the construction period," the mayor said.
In addition to the bridge replacement, there is construction activity along state Route 169, or Robbins Avenue.
Work will run through November.
Twenty-six storm sewers are being installed on Robbins, where local traffic is reduced to one lane.
Optional detours posted are from Route 169 to U.S. Route 422 via state Route 46, or Vienna Avenue/Niles-Cortland Road.