Projects in Steubenville likely to alter traffic flow
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STEUBENVILLE -- City residents are facing major traffic disruptions over the next few weeks.
At Tuesday's meeting, City Engineer Mike Dolak warned council Lovers Lane from Sunset Boulevard to the roundabout will be closed to through traffic once school is out.
Dolak said plans for the next phase of the widening project "are 95 percent done, all the rights of way are complete" and AEP is ready to relocate its poles.
"(It's) going to start after school is out, it will probably take three or four weeks, around 45 days," he said. "During that time Lovers Lane will probably be closed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday."
He said he lobbied to have AEP wait until school was out to start the project, saying getting school buses through the work area in a timely fashion would be tricky. He said they're hoping AEP can be done in 30 days to 45 days, "(but) after that will be Columbia Gas, they will also have the road closed."
"We've done this before, but it's different working on Lovers Lane because it's so (narrow)," he said.
Dolak also warned council Ohio Department of Transportation plans to close the Lincoln Avenue Bridge for renovation, "tentatively set to start July 5 ... probably to the end of October."
He said the timing is good, since the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodoc Church’s Greek Food Festival and the Dean Martin Festival should be wrapped up by then.
Urban Projects Director Chris Petrossi, meanwhile, told council the city's grant-writing consultant, Aspire, is finalizing an application to Bloomberg Philanthropies for funding for asphalt art, a worldwide beautification initiative.
Bloomberg says the program encourages cities to "embrace art as an effective and relatively low-cost strategy to activate their streets" through art installations on roadways (intersections and crosswalks), pedestrian spaces (plazas and sidewalks) and vertical infrastructure (utility boxes, traffic barriers, and underpasses).
"It's new in this area," Petrossi said, adding if they succeed in getting the grant money, he'd like to see it spread beyond the initial installation.
Councilwoman at large Kimberly Hahn said Steubenville Cultural Trust is doing a new art project of its own, a Catfish Crawl Art Walk highlighting the city's river heritage. The trust is soliciting volunteer artists to hand-paint catfish shapes measuring about 5 feet-by-2 feet. The catfish were created especially for the project, and those who are interested will need to apply and specify their plans for finishing them, front and back.
"They hope to be done June 14 and have it up from July through September," Hahn said, adding the fish will be displayed in front of businesses downtown.
In other matters:
— Second Ward Councilman Tracy McManamon got the go-ahead from council to proceed with a civic involvement project he's been working on "to have a young person who will come in, sit up here and experience what it's like to sit on this side of the railing."
McManamon pointed to the dearth of people interested in running for office and said he hopes the program would encourage young people to get involved.
"I would like to at least have our young people experience what city council is like," he said.
— Hahn told council the new poles for the state's state Route 7 traffic signal replacements "arrived a little early."
"They installed what they could ... but some parts are missing. The mast arms can't be installed until the parts arrive," she said.
— City Manager Jim Mavromatis said he's met with the city's attorneys about changing parking regulations downtown to limit parking to two hours, telling council they'll have to decide "the degree that we enforce it."
He said they'll need a part-time enforcement officer to monitor parking.
— Council signed off on third readings of an ordinance authorizing Mavromatis to apply for Ohio Public Works Commission grant funds for the Johnson Road improvements as well as the city's 2024 hot-mix resurfacing improvements, and to seek bids for the hot-mix resurfacing project.
— Emergency legislation amending the city's Table of Organization for the water department and authorizing a temporary pay raise for the secretary/financial coordinator in the Planning and Urban Development Department as well as the Beatty Park Stream Restoration project also was approved
— Council also heard the second reading of an ordinance authorizing Mavromatis to enter into a marketing agreement with Utility Service Partners Private Label Inc., which does business as Service Line Warranties of America, to advertise warranty plans for repair of external water and sewer lines and in-home plumbing. The program is said to provide affordable insurance options to protect homeowners.
"I think it's a good thing for citizens," fifth Ward Councilman Willie Paul said. "A neighbor just had problems with his line, he's already in for $20,000-plus."
— First reading also was heard of a zoning change for a property at 2220 Powell Ave. from low density residential (R-1) to community commercial district (B-2). Hahn said second reading will be next week, with a public hearing scheduled in July.