STRUTHERS Bridge construction set to begin

The bridge would help spur industrial redevelopment, officials said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- Construction is to begin next year on the new Walton Avenue Bridge, which will provide access to industrial land along the Mahoning River, Mayor Daniel Mamula announced.
The bridge design has been completed, and the Mahoning County Engineer's Office expects to advertise for bids on the project in January, the mayor told city council on Wednesday.
The new two-lane bridge, which would open early in 2005 and provide access to the site of the former Campbell Works of Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co., would replace a bridge that was demolished during the 1980s.
The Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity planning committee already has secured $3,250,000 in combined federal, state and county funds to build the bridge, which is designed for truck traffic and intended to spur economic redevelopment.
Council passed a resolution requesting the Mahoning County Solid Waste Management District (the Green Team) to provide an additional $225,000 for the project if it is needed. That money would be used to relocate a Norfolk-Southern railroad signal bridge to enable the new span to be built.
The resolution says recycled materials will be used as much as possible in construction of the new bridge, and Mamula said the city would provide land to the county for a processing center for recycled materials if the $225,000 is used.
Other matters
The mayor also announced that the city has applied for a grant of about $47,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for repairing damage to roads, ditches and sewers and for overtime costs to the city because of this summer's heavy rains and flooding.
The total includes $14,697 for ditch restoration on Judith Lane; $19,600 for sanitary sewer and road restoration on State Street; $5,802 to clean out and restore a culvert on Lakeshore Drive; and $6,640 for city employee overtime.
The mayor also announced that the county will install an emergency siren, for which the city is paying $17,500, on a pole on Garfield Street near the high school stadium in the next several weeks.
Council heard Stephen M. Kristan, director of external affairs for SBC Ameritech in Youngstown, report that SBC has just begun offering DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) high-speed Internet service over telephone lines to residential customers in the city for $26.95 per month.
Kristan added that the Federal Communications Commission is to decide by next Wednesday whether SBC, which now offers local telephone service, can offer long-distance telephone service in Ohio.
milliken@vindy.com