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More than $13M in work on major Youngstown thoroughfares to start later this year
YOUNGSTOWN
More than $13 million worth of improvement work to some of the city’s busiest roads – including South and Wick avenues and Meridian Road – will start in a few months.
“These are the major thoroughfares, and it’s very important they be in good condition,” said Mayor John A. McNally.
Youngstown will pay about $5.5 million toward the projects, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works. The rest is coming from state and federal grants as well as partnerships with Youngstown State University and the city of Campbell, he said.
“The funding gives the city an opportunity to get much-needed projects done without having to pay for it all,” Shasho said. “We don’t usually do this amount of work in a year. The projects will beautify the city and improve the quality of our major roads. We want to spur development, and road improvements are a big part of that.”
The most expensive project is $4.9 million worth of work on Wick Avenue between Wood Street and McGuffey Road with the city paying $3.9 million, Shasho said. YSU is paying $800,000 toward the project and Youngstown CityScape is raising private funds for part of the work.
The plan is to move above-ground utility poles underground between Rayen Avenue and the Madison Avenue Expressway access roads. The work also includes replacing two water lines with one, replacing a sewer line, new traffic lights, reducing the four-lane road to three with the middle being a turning lane and repaving the road, Shasho said.
The work should start around May and not be done until 2017, he said.
Also being done this year is a $2.7 million project on Meridian Road from Mahoning Avenue to Interstate 680 with the city paying $800,000 and the rest coming from state grants.
The work, expected to start in July and finish in 2017, is the first of three phases to improve Meridian Road. The project will be from Canfield Road to the Mahoning County line, Shasho said.
The county will handle the other two phases of the project – Canfield Road to Mahoning Avenue in 2017, and Interstate 680 to the county line a year later. The road goes along the Youngstown-Austintown border.
“We’ve been trying to get this done for a few decades,” Shasho said. “The road is in very poor condition. The outside lanes are deteriorating.”
The work includes repaving, replacing water lines and storm-sewer lines and curbing.
Improvements to Lincoln Avenue from Fifth to Wick avenues will cost $1.6 million with all but $300,000 coming from a federal grant. That work includes paving, adding parking spaces, installing new streetlights and making sewer improvements.
The city may close Lincoln between Wick Avenue and Hazel Street when the work begins in June, and keeping Hazel to Fifth open, Shasho said. The project should be finished by the fall, he said.
“Lincoln Avenue and Wick Avenue projects have been on the drawing board for a while, and we’ll be taking care of both of them this year,” McNally said.
Other projects include:
Paving South Avenue from Midlothian Boulevard to Williamson Avenue. The project’s cost is $1.3 million with all of the cost paid from state and federal grants. The project will start in July and take up to 90 days to finish.
Paving McCartney Road from state Route 616 to Keystone Avenue in Youngstown and Campbell. The work will cost $1.3 million with $163,000 from Youngstown, $97,000 from Campbell and the rest from a state grant. The project should start in May and take up to 90 days to finish.
Paving portions of four streets: Poland Avenue from Gibson to Jones streets, McGuffey Road from Lansdowne Boulevard to Liberty Street; Gypsy Lane from Belmont to Fifth avenues, and Wellington Avenue from North Belle Vista to North Lakeview avenues. About $900,000 of the $1.3 million project is covered by a state grant with the city paying the rest. The project will start in the spring and be finished in the fall, Shasho said.
The city is also budgeting up to $1.2 million to pave neighborhood streets this summer.
The money for that work will come from the city’s license-plate fees, federal Community Development Block Grant funds and the city’s water and wastewater funds if the paving work includes improvements to water and sewer lines, Shasho said.