Fundraiser to aid Canfield library

By Ed Runyan

Two projects along Route 224 in Canfield Township are set to begin within about 15 months.

AUSTINTOWN — A massive fund-raising campaign will be needed to help pay for a large expansion being planned for the Canfield branch of the Mahoning County Library.

Lynn Roman, a trustee with the nonprofit organization Canfield Foundation, told those attending the Regional Chamber’s Good Morning Canfield event Friday morning that the county library system has bought an option to buy the land behind the current library on West Main Street.

The land will be needed if the library system is able to succeed with a proposal to expand the branch from its current 5,000 square feet to 20,000, Roman said.

Carlton Sears, director of Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, said it is rare for the library system to pay for land, but it is important to keep the library downtown, so expansion appears to be a better choice than building a new building.

Sims said the project is likely to take about three years to complete.

Another speaker was Kathleen Rodi, director of transportation for the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, who updated the audience on the progress of a road improvement project being planned to reduce traffic congestion at U.S. Route 224 near state Route 11 and Raccoon Road in Canfield Township.

Rodi said the Ohio Department of Transportation is expected to approve its study of Route 224 by this June and begin construction on the improvements to the Route 11-Racoon Road area by next June.

The project will include the addition of a right-turn lane in the westbound lane of Route 224 to improve access to northbound Raccoon Road and state Route 11, and an additional access to Route 11 off Raccoon Road south of Route 224.

She noted that ODOT will also put another Canfield Township project just east of there out to bid Wednesday. It involves the widening of the Route 224-Tippecanoe Road-Lockwood Boulevard intersection, with two sets of dual left-turn lanes at Lockwood and widening of Tippecanoe to add a right-turn lane. That project is expected to take about a year to complete.

runyan@vindy.com