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Improvements to Wick Avenue will start soon
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
The city’s board of control approved awarding the Wick Avenue improvement project to Marucci & Gaffney Excavating of Youngstown.
The board, which includes Mayor John A. McNally; Martin Hume, law director; and David Bozanich, finance director; awarded the $4.1 million project to the Youngstown company Thursday.
That company had the lowest bid of the six submitted. The award is contingent on the city’s law department review of documents submitted by the company.
Marucci & Gaffney’s bid was lower than the $5.3 million project estimate.
The project runs along Wick Avenue between McGuffey Road and Wood Street.
The project will move above-ground utility poles underground between Rayen Avenue and the Madison Avenue Expressway access roads.
The work also includes replacing two waterlines with one, replacing a sewer line, installing new traffic lights, reducing the four-lane road to three with the middle being a turning lane, paving and new signs.
Work is expected to start soon.
“It’s a 365-day contract,” said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works.
The road will be closed during the project, requiring people to use Fifth Avenue or find another alternate route.
“I understand the road is going to be closed and that’s going to inconvenience people, but the end result will improve Wick by YSU and Ursuline High School and all the way down,” Shasho said.
The project is a joint effort of the city, Youngstown State University and Youngstown CityScape. The city is paying for $3.9 million while YSU is contributing $800,000 and CityScape is raising funds.
The BOC also approved a grant agreement with the Ohio Public Works Commission for North Meridian Road improvements and another for South Avenue resurfacing.
The $2.7 million Meridian Road project includes the area from Mahoning Avenue to Interstate 680, with the city paying $800,000 and the rest coming from state grants. The work includes repaving, replacing waterlines, storm-sewer lines and curbing.
It’s the first of three work phases on that road.
South Avenue from Midlothian Boulevard to Williamson Avenue will be repaved. The project’s cost is $1.3 million, with all of the cost paid from state and federal grants.