By Sean Barron

news@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County Engineer Patrick T. Ginnetti has a simple message for motorists who will be traveling on Meridian Road for the foreseeable future: Be patient and slow down.

“There’s going to be a lot of congestion and a lot of delays,” Ginnetti said, referring to the second of a three-phase improvement project to Meridian Road that’s slated to begin in late June or early July.

Chagrin Valley Paving Inc. of Chagrin Falls was awarded the $1,583,837 contract for this leg of the project, which is a joint effort with the city of Youngstown, and will entail repaving Meridian Road between Canfield Road (state Route 62) in Cornersburg and Mahoning Avenue, Ginnetti noted during Thursday’s county commissioners’ meeting.

Work should wrap up by year’s end, he said, adding the corridor will remain open with lane restrictions throughout the construction project.

For years, the thoroughfare’s deteriorating condition has been a source of frustration and headaches for many drivers.

The first Meridian Road phase, a $3.4 million improvement project between the Interstate 680 on-ramp and Mahoning Avenue, is ongoing and expected to take about six months to complete.

A main challenge is installing a new waterline because that includes digging in areas with many underground utility lines and doing so in a manner that does not interrupt area businesses, Ginnetti explained.

Youngstown-based Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Inc. is the general contractor for the first phase, which also will include new storm sewers, intersection improvements and street resurfacing.

The final phase will cover Meridian Road between I-680 and the Mahoning/Trumbull County line and likely will start next year. Efforts are underway to select a consultant to conduct design work, Ginnetti said.

A federal grant will cover about 80 percent of the second phase’s cost, with Youngstown and the engineer’s office splitting the remaining 20 percent, he said.