Project delay


By Jeanne Starmack

starmack@vindy.com

liberty

Developers of a planned 90-room Comfort Suites hotel on Belmont Avenue are hoping they can start building without first having to put in a turning lane.

Perni, Perni Equities LLC of Hubbard is ready to begin building on the property it owns across from the Station Square Restaurant.

The Ohio Department of Transportation, however, wants the developer to build a turning lane on Belmont, said Liberty Township Administrator Pat Ungaro.

Ungaro said the engineering firm MS Consultants, working for the developer, has prepared a plan for ODOT without the turning lane in the hope of persuading it that one is not needed.

That way, the developer can save time and expense. Before adding the turning lane, a nearby utility tower and wires would have to be moved, he said.

The developer wants to avoid delays, he said. MS Consultants was to turn in a plan showing the road without the turning lane Friday.

ODOT told Ungaro that it would take approximately two weeks to review plans from the engineering firm.

He does not know how long it would take to move the utility tower and build the turning lane.

A representative from MS Consultants could not be reached Friday.