By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A pedestrian mall along a section of North Phelps Street could be in place by the fall.

City council on Wednesday approved a resolution supporting the closure of that street between West Commerce and West Federal streets and the installation of a plaza there.

The city has talked for years about the pedestrian mall and had a public meeting about it May 23, 2018.

“It’s a great project,” said Councilman Julius T. Oliver, D-1st, whose ward includes downtown. “It will give citizens a way to enjoy downtown on a whole different level. It will be dynamic for the city.”

It would cost about $200,000 to turn that section of North Phelps Street into a pedestrian mall, said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said it will continue to help the city “connect downtown to” Youngstown State University.

The street has been closed on and off for years because of a variety of projects – and delays of those projects.

A sewer project was to occur about six years ago, but it came to a stop after only a month of work when it was discovered that underground utilities, primarily AT&T lines and three duct banks, were directly in the path of the line.

That AT&T project was postponed and didn’t start until January 2018.

The AT&T work should be finished next month, Shasho said.

The sewer project along with streetscape work will be done in the summer and take about two to three months to complete, he said.

Then in the fall, work to turn the street into a pedestrian mall will be done, Shasho said.

“This will allow people to walk in that area,” he said. “Businesses on the street can put patio space there.”

There was consideration in the past to permit people to drink alcoholic beverages outside on that part of Phelps.

Shasho said he doesn’t see that happening, at least at this point. Oliver said he would like to see it at least in restricted areas of the street.