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Mill Creek Park plans improvements to Memorial Hill Drive
YOUNGSTOWN
The historic entrance to Mill Creek Park will get some improvements this year.
The park is planning a rehabilitation project for Memorial Hill Drive, which stretches from Glenwood Avenue to West Glacier Drive.
Using funds from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Park District Road Improvement Fund, the park will replace the asphalt roadway on Memorial Hill (roughly 0.3 miles). The park received $108,820 from that program for 2016-17, which will cover about 90 percent of the project cost.
Park officials say replacement of the road top will improve safety and driving conditions for vehicular traffic, preserve the roadway’s original function and restore the user experience along Memorial Hill Drive.
“The road condition is in poor shape with respect to the surfacing. There’s potholes, there’s cracking, and storm-water drainage is compromised. So this will certainly remedy all of those issues,” said Justin Rogers, park planning manager. “What is sort of special about this project is that Memorial Hill Drive is the historic entrance to Mill Creek Park, so it’s a great opportunity to reinvest in some of the historic infrastructure.”
The park maintains roughly 20 miles of road.
Memorial Hill Drive will be temporarily closed to vehicular traffic during the project, which is slated to take place over the summer. The closure is expected to be brief. The park also will make some improvements to the road, such as to curbs, before resurfacing it.
The park is accepting public comment on the project through Feb. 12. Comments can be submitted by mail to Mill Creek MetroParks; RE: Memorial Hill Drive; P.O. Box 596; Canfield, OH 44406-0596 or by email to justin@millcreekmetroparks.org.