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Youngstown council to consider Wednesday the spending of up to $4.1 million for an improvement project to Meridian Road
$4.1M needed to improve portion of Meridian Road
YOUNGSTOWN
City council is expected to take the formal step Wednesday to authorize the spending of up to $4.1 million for a major improvement project to a section of Meridian Road.
Council will consider an ordinance to appropriate the funding, which includes $1,714,150 in state grants and $300,000 from Mahoning County. The rest of the funding, $2,085,850, is coming from the city with $1,437,189 – 69 percent of it – coming from water funds for a waterline replacement.
The work being done on Meridian Road is from Mahoning Avenue to the Interstate 680 ramps, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works for the city.
“Over the past 10 years, we’ve patched it together,” he said. “It needs to get done. The road is in bad shape.”
In addition to the waterline replacement, the work includes street resurfacing, the replacement of storm sewers and curb upgrades, Shasho said.
The work is expected to start in late March or early April and take about six months to complete, Shasho said.
The road won’t be closed while the project is ongoing, he said.
This is the first of three phases for Meridian Road between Canfield Road and the Mahoning County line. The county will handle the other two phases – Canfield Road to Mahoning Avenue later this year and between the 1-680 ramps to the county line probably next year.
Meridian Road goes along the Youngstown-Austintown border.
Also Wednesday, council will consider an ordinance to allow the board of control to seek proposals for about $1.2 million for the neighborhood street resurfacing program. That work will begin in May or June, Shasho said.
Council will also consider Wednesday appropriating $90,000 from its civil speed camera fund and authorizing the board of control to buy two new police cruisers through the state purchasing program. Since the speed camera program started in August 2015, the police department has collected $920,961 in civil penalties from those cited for speeding. The department has used part of that money to purchase eight new cruisers and two police dog units.
Meanwhile, council will meet at 5 p.m. today for a work session to discuss concerns and priorities for the year.
Council members will talk about the main priorities in their wards and then work on a list of the top three to five projects to benefit the city as a whole.