Project on Federal Street unlikely to hurt business
YOUNGSTOWN — A West Federal Street improvement project has portions of one of downtown’s busiest streets closed to parking and in the dark, but it won’t adversely impact entertainment events in the area.
That’s according to Phil Kidd, the city’s downtown director of special events and special projects.
Most events, including Saturday’s JonesFest, are held on and near Federal Street, he said. But they aren’t held between Fifth Avenue and South Phelps Street, the construction area.
The West Federal Street improvement project is expected to be finished by August.
While the project is ongoing, parking is banned on that portion of West Federal Street and exterior city lights are out. There are exterior lights on most side streets, however.
Because of that, Kidd strongly encourages people coming downtown to park elsewhere, pointing out that numerous surface lots and on-street spots are available east of the construction site.
“There’s enough parking to accommodate people without them having to park west of Phelps,” he said.
JonesFest is expected to attract about 2,500 people. The event starts at 2 p.m. Saturday and ends 12 hours later. It features 13 local bands with two stages: one inside Barley’s, 21 W. Federal St., and the other outside on West Federal between Phelps Street and Wick Avenue.
The event also has food vendors, games, and other entertainment.
The lack of exterior lighting hasn’t hurt business at Rosetta Stone, said Greg Sop. Sop co-owns the restaurant on West Federal between South Phelps and Hazel streets in the construction area. It opened about four months ago.
“Everything’s a little darker, but it’s safe and we still get big crowds,” he said.
Adding to the safety are the Youngstown police officers who “walk the beat” downtown, Sop said.
To help with the temporary lack of exterior lights, Rosetta Stone places four tiki torches in front of the building, Sop said. Even when the lights return, the torches will probably stay because they help attract attention to the restaurant, he said.
With a full schedule of downtown activities this summer, Sop said he’s hopeful that those coming to the area for those events will eat at his restaurant.
The $474,684 improvement project to West Federal Street started last month. The project includes removing 25 percent of the medians between Fifth and Phelps as well as nine of the 22 trees in those medians. The street is being repaved, and parking spots are being added in and near the area.
That work is happening while Mahoning County is improving the Spring Common Bridge, which connects Mahoning Avenue over the Mahoning River, from the West Side to Fifth Avenue and West Federal Street. The bridge is closed until July.
Because of the two projects, traffic in that part of downtown is tied up at times. Traffic on West Federal Street between Fifth Avenue and Vindicator Square is closed.
skolnick@vindy.com