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Campbell improving system under Wilson Ave. to handle rainwater runoff
CAMPBELL
As the city tackles three major paving projects on state Route 289, Robinson Road and Tenney Avenue, the Route 289 project has been experiencing some setbacks.
Joe Tovarnak, superintendent of the Campbell Water Department, said the city has been working on the piping underneath a section of state Route 289 — also called Wilson Avenue — for about two weeks.
He said though there is nothing structurally wrong with the piping or the culvert, which is a giant box that drains the city’s rainwater, the city wanted to put in a better piping system to handle rainwater runoff.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has been directing the repaving projects in Campbell. Justin Chesnic, a public information officer with ODOT District 4, said the state decided to add overflow-outlet pipes underneath Wilson Avenue to help the culvert in dealing with overflow water coming from Campbell in rainstorms.
“We had a couple big rainstorms a couple weeks ago and determined the culvert was having a tough time flowing water through,” he said. “If it ever rains bad, there will now be other outlets for water to go to, so there’s less chance it will flood.”
Because Campbell is situated on the top of a hill, Tovarnak said any rainwater from the city runs down the hill, into a culvert on Wilson Avenue and finally into the Mahoning River.
“If the city was flat, [it] wouldn’t have such high amounts of water coming down into the culvert,” he said. “It’s all about the volume of water and that it’s coming at a high-rate speed.”
Tovarnak said all the piping had to be fixed first before this section of Wilson Avenue could be repaved.
“It’s not the city’s fault,” Tovarnak said of the setback. “Engineering can’t foresee a lot of what happens with construction.”
Once piping work is completed, Tovarnak said the gap beneath the Wilson Avenue bridge will be filled entirely with rocks, concrete, soil and grass that slopes into the Mahoning River. He said construction workers estimated the “plumbing work” underneath Wilson Avenue will be done in one month at the latest.
Chesnic said people will begin to see milling work along Wilson Avenue after Labor Day weekend. He said he estimates actual paving work of Wilson Avenue will start anywhere between Sept. 15 and 22, depending on weather.
Chesnic added that the majority of the project could be completed by late October. He said workers will pave around the piping work on Wilson Avenue, if needed, until that portion of construction is done.
“I think it’s realistic that we’ll have 289 resurfaced this year,” he said. “It shouldn’t delay into next year.”