SALEM Wal-Mart traffic project to begin

The job will include widening a section of Cunningham Road.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Work is to begin next week on a street project intended to smooth traffic flow to the new Wal-Mart being built on the city's east side.
Crews will be reconfiguring the intersection of Butcher and Cunningham roads, city Service Director Joe Julian explained Monday.
The intersection lies just south of the Wal-Mart, being built near where Cunningham joins East State Street, which is also state Route 14.
City officials are anticipating an increase in traffic on Cunningham Road when the store opens in the next few months.
The intersection project will reconfigure the crossroad so that traffic on Cunningham does not have to stop at Butcher Road.
Once the project is completed, traffic on Butcher Road will have to stop at Cunningham, Julian explained.
One end of Butcher once intersected with East State Street. But a separate road project, still under way, severed that connection because engineers determined it posed a traffic hazard.
Not only will the right-of-way at the Butcher-Cunningham intersection be altered as part of the project, but the job also includes plans to install curbs, resurfacing and widening a section of Cunningham from 18 feet to 28 feet, Julian said.
Foust Construction of Girard has been hired to do the work. The contract is for $130,000. Sixty percent of that will be paid for with a federal grant. The remaining money will come from the city's capital improvements fund.
Time frame
The project is likely to take about three weeks. The intersection at Butcher and Cunningham will be closed for at least part of that time, with traffic detoured onto state routes 14 and 344.
Work on a nearby road reconfiguration project is expected to conclude near the end of this month, Julian said. Crews are finishing a nearly $1.2 million project that has included lowering Millville Hill, west of Cunningham Road.
Also included in the project is the widening of about 2,000 feet of East State Street. The project was undertaken to relieve traffic congestion and reduce accidents in the area.
The state is putting up about $765,000 for the project. The rest is from the city's capital improvements fund.