Sewer separation work runs ahead of schedule

The project is scheduled to last a year.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The city's $3.9 million storm and sanitary sewer separation project is running almost a month ahead of schedule.
Tom Angelo, the city's water pollution control director, says that's because the lack of underground obstructions allowed crews to work quickly in the Courthouse Square area.
Also, the weather has been good this fall. "It's going better than I anticipated," he said.
The project, funded by an Ohio Water Development Authority loan, will separate sewers in the city's north end, downtown and part of its east side. It will also eliminate the four overflows where untreated sewage flows into the Mahoning River after heavy rains.
Progress, plans
The portion of the project that has been completed is already substantially reducing the amount of water going to the sewage treatment plant when it rains, Angelo said.
The initial phase of the project on Courthouse Square was cut, installed and paved over as planned before Sunday's Halloween Parade, he noted.
Because the project is ahead of schedule, Angelo said crews would try to finish the remaining segment of East Market Street before the Christmas shopping season.
Crews won't return to the Courthouse Square area until after the Christmas shopping season, he said. They'll be working on the outskirts of downtown during the holiday season. The work is being done by Utility Contracting Inc. of Youngstown.
The project, which began in September, is scheduled to take a year to complete, and Angelo said he'll stick to the one year estimate. The effect spring rains will have on the project is unknown, he explained.
Because of the sewer construction project, the African-American Heritage Festival in June and the Italian-American Heritage Festival in August, which have traditionally used Courthouse Square, will move next year to the amphitheater and promenade in Perkins Park.
milliken@vindy.com