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Bridge, road to allow access to businesses
By jeanne starmack
campbell
Where the new Lower Connector bridge ends, an access road will begin with the hope that it makes industrial property along the Mahoning River an attractive location for businesses.
The 185-foot-long bridge, which is linking Struthers to Campbell at the end of Bob Cene Way near Astro Shapes, is under construction and expected to be finished by the beginning of October. It will link to the access road, which will be called Casey Drive.
In turn, the road will allow access to the nearby Walton Avenue Bridge, said Campbell Mayor George Krinos and the city’s consulting engineer, Chris Tolnar of GPD Associates.
From Walton Avenue, traffic from both sides of the river will be able to get to Poland Avenue, then Center Street and then Interstate 680.
The road, which will be built along the same route as a dirt road that’s there now, passes the Walton Avenue bridge and circles around several businesses near Wilson Avenue. Maps show it will link into an access road that goes west toward Youngstown.
The road will be widened and designed properly, Tolnar said.
The city, which is paying for the $600,000 project with state grants, is expected to solicit bids for the project by late summer, Tolnar said. He said it should be completed “before the snow flies.”
He said that if the weather is bad early, it might push the project back.
The new bridge and the road are part of the Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity master plan to make the industrial property more accessible. The corridor includes land in Youngstown, Struthers and Campbell.