Projects around YSU to improve safety, appearance

By Denise Dick | June 10, 2016 at 12:07a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Improvement projects to two streets surrounding Youngstown State University will bolster gateways to the campus in appearance and safety.

City officials are set to open bids today for a roughly $1.6 million Lincoln Avenue project to pave, add parking spaces, install new streetlights and improve sewers. A federal grant is funding the bulk of the project.

“Lincoln will start July 1-ish and be completed in October,” said Charles Shasho, city deputy director of public works.

John Hyden, YSU’s executive director of facilities, told university trustees last week that the project may cause hassles for motorists when classes resume in late August.

Shasho said parking will be reconfigured, and safety along the roadway will be improved.

YSU President Jim Tressel has said the Wick work will improve both the appearance and safety of a main entry to campus.

Bids are expected to be open June 20 for Wick Avenue work that involves replacing a waterline and a sewer line, moving above-ground utilities underground and paving the street.

The city’s portion is about $4 million, and in June 2015, YSU trustees approved spending $800,000 for the Wick beautification project.

CityScape is a partner in the Wick project, as well, with that organization raising private funds for the utility move. YSU’s portion will rebury the utility lines.

“Wick is supposed to start in August, and it will take a good year to complete,” Shasho said.

Work will be suspended during the winter, he said.

Wick, one of the main entries to the YSU campus, will become one lane in each direction with a dual left-turn lane, one lane down the center shared by travelers in each direction.

Improvements to the two roads are just some of the endeavors planned near YSU.

Ground was broken September by Hallmark Campus Communities of Columbus for a 162-bed student apartment building on Rayen and Lincoln avenues between Fifth and Belmont. It’s expected to open this fall, and all of those apartments have been leased.

A second phase will include 220 beds and is expected to open in fall 2017. Retail establishments also are part of the plan.

Another student housing apartment building, The Enclave, by LRC of Akron, is planned for Wick Avenue between Lincoln and Rayen avenues.

NYO Property of Youngstown plans another set of apartments on the southeast corner of Wick and Rayen avenues.