43
Work on Wick Ave. starts Monday, disruptions expected near YSU
and Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Get your aspirin and your blood-pressure pills ready: Wick Avenue work begins Monday.
The $4.1 million project covers the section of Wick from Wood Street to Eastbound Service Road of the Madison Avenue Expressway.
“The first couple of weeks of a detour is always the worst,” said Charles Shasho, deputy director of the city’s public-works department. “I’d advise people coming into that area to leave a little earlier. Motorists will get adjusted to it. I appreciate everyone’s patience, and in the end, we’ll have a great project.”
That main corridor to and from Youngstown State University will be under construction until Sept. 18, 2017.
“The main thing is we ask that you be patient, give yourself extra time and just be aware,” said Ron Cole, YSU spokesman. “It’s something that will cause some disruption, but it will be worth it when it’s done.”
The road will be closed to through traffic, although local traffic will be maintained southbound to parking lots and businesses.
Businesses along the affected stretch include the McDonough Museum, the Butler Institute of American Art, and the Arms Museum.
“We’ve notified students on a regular basis that this was coming,” Cole said.
Detours will be posted via Fifth and Andrews avenues.
Also, Rayen Avenue at the Wick intersection will be closed twice – including once later this month – for about a week each time, Shasho said. When those closures are announced, traffic will be detoured to Commerce Street and Andrews Avenue.
The project will move above-ground utility poles underground, replace two waterlines with one, replace a sewer line, install new traffic lights, reduce the three-lane road to two lanes, with the middle being a turning lane, plus include paving and new signs.
The Wick work comes as the Lincoln Avenue project is ongoing. That road is also closed.
The improvement area is between Wick Avenue and Hazel Street and includes paving, sewer improvements, marked crosswalks, new sidewalk curbs, small pedestrian islands at intersections, installing 18 parking meters that allow motorists to pay with debit and credit cards, and removing parking spaces on the north side of the street.
The $1.3 million Lincoln project started in mid-August, and the road will reopen in mid-December, even if the entire project isn’t finished, Shasho said.
What’s uncertain is if a second layer of asphalt can be put down in late November or early December before it gets too cold to do so, he said. The first layer is being put down in two weeks, he said.
If the project isn’t done by mid-December, the road will open and then be closed for about a month in spring 2017 for the rest of the work to be finished, Shasho said.
Both projects will improve the appearance of the roadways and enhance safety, Shasho said.
Access to the Wick parking deck will be maintained at the Wick Avenue entrance, but Cole said the university suggests students use the Walnut Street entrance instead.
YSU officials actually hope people get into the habit of using the Walnut Street entrance to the deck and keep using it even after the project is done.
With the lane reduction on Wick, fewer motorists using that entrance will allow more control over pedestrians crossing the street, Cole said.