MAHONING COUNTY Boardman road work nears end

Both roads will be open for the Canfield Fair.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Work on two major roadways here is nearly complete with one of those roads expected to open to traffic this week.
Mahoning County Engineer Dick Marsico said motorists will likely be able to travel across the Shields Road bridge as soon as Friday. The road has been closed since May so crews could replace the bridge, widen the intersection at Sheban and Shields and add additional lanes to Shields.
Marsico had said the work was needed to reduce congestion with the nearly 20,000 cars that travel the road daily.
Marsico said crews will continue to work on other parts of the road; however, traffic will be maintained for that work.
Upgrade projects
Crews are starting an upgrade project, Marsico said, at the Shields Road and Tippecanoe intersection. Turning lanes will be added in all four directions at the intersection along with new traffic signals. The work will take about a year to complete.
A traffic signal upgrade will be done at the Shields Road and West Boulevard intersection, Marisco said. The work should take a few months, but traffic there will also be maintained while the work is being done.
Marsico said the Tippecanoe-Western Reserve Road and Western Reserve Road-New Buffalo Road intersections are now open to traffic.
A section of Western Reserve Road has been closed since April so crews could widen and upgrade the intersection of Western Reserve and New Buffalo roads. Traffic lanes between Tippecanoe and Hitchcock are also being widened from 9 feet to 12 feet with 3-foot-wide shoulders on each side of the road.
Marsico said the work is not scheduled to be completed until November, but motorists will get a break during the Canfield Fair. He said the road will be opened to traffic during the fair then closed after the fair so the work can be completed.
Marsico said crews will continue working on the road while it is open during the fair.
jgoodwin@vindy.com