Officials explain project's effects

The park project will begin in 2010.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Residents in the Victory Estates housing development have been told how the Hubbard Arterial project will affect ball fields and parks in the area -- and most seem pleased with the plans.
More than 30 people met Wednesday for a meeting sponsored by Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to explain what will happen to Victory Field if the project comes to fruition. Victory Field is a large area to the rear of Victory Estates.
According to Noel Mehlo, environmental specialist with the Ohio Department of Transportation, the field now has a basketball court, baseball diamond, restrooms and some deteriorated bleachers. The roadway project, he said, will use land that sits away from the basketball field and baseball diamond.
"The project will take a part of the field that really isn't used all that much," he said. It will leave a good portion of the field vacant for the city to develop at a later date.
The arterial, better known as the Hubbard Expressway, would connect Albert Street in Youngstown to Bell-Wick Road in Hubbard Township and onto Interstate 80.
Funding
Kathleen Rodi, Eastgate's director of transportation, said there is $2.7 million in congressional funding set aside for the final design of the arterial project. She said funding for land acquisition and construction will have to be sought through the state Transportation Review Advisory Council.
In exchange for the land taken up by the new roadway, residents will receive a new park, complete with updated playground equipment, that will be built closer to the apartments in the complex. There will be $75,000 set aside in the arterial project to build the park.
The entire Hubbard Arterial is expected to cost $75 million.
Most residents seemed pleased with plans, but wanted to know if there would be enough room left in the current field for an improved baseball field and if a security fence could be installed at the new park to avoid vandalism. A previous park on the grounds was destroyed by fire.
Joseph McRae, Youngstown Parks and Recreation department director, said Youngstown City Schools may be upgrading the baseball field for use by East High School students. He said the new park will be closer to homes so residents can help keep an eye out for vandals.
Mehlo said land acquisition and work on the park will likely begin in 2010. The overall construction of the arterial will begin in 2020, he said.
Would like park sooner
After hearing the plans most residents just wanted to know if the work on the new park could begin sooner than the anticipated 2010 date.
Youngstown resident Leslie Fitzgerald said the playground needs to be put in place as soon as possible, even if the planned road is built at a later date.
She said the playground would compliment the new East High School.
"We need the playground. Our area needs to be built up," she said. "A new school and a new playground would coincide with one another."
Rodi said funding could be an obstacle for completing the park project before the 2010 date because it is being done in conjunction with the Hubbard Arterial project.
jgoodwin@vindy.com