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If you live in the West End of Steubenville or travel though that area on a regular basis, you should be prepared for some major road work later this year, as the long-anticipated widening of Lovers Lane will become a reality.
"We're probably going to sign contracts for the widening of Lovers Lane by the end of the month, and then work should begin in March," Mike Dolak, the city's engineer, told members of the Steubenville Rotary Club during Wednesday's meeting.
That construction will be the third and final phase of a project that has been ongoing for more than six years. It will help to improve traffic flow along that heavily traveled stretch of road that runs from the intersection with Sunset Boulevard and the roundabout at Mall Drive.
And the update on that work and overall report about projects that are in the works for the coming years came close to the date of Dolak's last presentation to the club, which came on Feb. 8, 2019. A lot has changed during those five years, for the city and the club, which has moved its meetings from the old YWCA on Fourth Street -- which has since been torn down to make way for the STEM building project at Steubenville High School -- to the JeffCo Event Center off of John Scott Highway.
Dolak, though, was almost able to follow the same outline Wednesday.
"About 18 months earlier, we had just finished the roundabout," he remembered. "We had just signed the contract and were getting ready to start construction at the intersection of Sunset and Lovers Lane."
When you add up all of the work that has gone into the three phases of the project, the total comes to about $6.2 million in construction costs, Dolak said.
"If you factor in the design and factor in the right of way, it's about $8.5 million," he added.
When you consider the federal government's participation, that leaves the city's share of the cost at about 15 percent.
Completion of the widening is expected to come in November, Dolak said. When the work is done, the lanes will have been expanded to 12 feet wide from their current 9.5 feet, he said. There also will be a sidewalk stretching from the roundabout to Sunset Boulevard on the west side of the road, the side where all of the houses are, he added.
Eventually, Dolak explained, the city would like to extend the sidewalk from the roundabout to the Fort Steuben Mall.
That would make access easier as changes come to the mall area, he added, using as an example the 7 Ranges entertainment complex that is expected to open soon in what was the old Sears store.
While the project will be a major improvement to a portion of road that carries an awful lot of traffic each day, it has not always been met with great enthusiasm. And it all started with the roundabout, which was the center of a great deal of discussion and concern from the time it was first proposed until the work was completed.
"I never knew a circle could make people so angry," Dolak explained. "I could tell you stories -- someone was actually arrested. That affected a small amount of people, but they were very boisterous about the project."
That controversy has passed, but there likely will be more grumbling once work on the final phase begins -- that stretch of Loves Lane will be closed during the project, with access limited only to the residents who live in that area.
Lovers Lane is just one of several projects that will be happening in Steubenville in the next couple of years. It's a list that includes the continuation of the city's five-year paving program for neighborhood streets, resurfacing of Crabbe Boulevard, paving of a part of Jefferson County Road 43 that weaves through the city and the repaving of Johnson Road and St. Charles Drive, continuation of sign upgrade work and water line work that will build much-needed redundancy into the West End service area, just to name a few.
While details are still being worked out, it's expected that the stretch of Sunset Boulevard running from the area between Welday Street and Yale Place will be repaved in 2025. That work likely could include a big change in the portion that runs from Welday to the intersection with John Scott Highway, Dolak said.
There's a plan for that section of road to be reduced to one lane in either direction with a turning lane added to the middle and bike lanes created on either side.
It's called road repurposing and the goal is to improve safety, reduce speeds, reduce accidents, reduce the severity of accidents and make the streets safer for all users. That's important, because the reality is that Sunset Boulevard can be a tough place to drive, depending on the time of day. Dolak said there were 663 accidents on that road between 2017 and 2021. In addition, its 4-foot-wide sidewalks can make pedestrian travel tricky.
That would be a big change for area residents. City Council will have to sign off on the plan, Dolak said, adding that members of the public will be able to make their thoughts known during public forums before any final decision is made.
No one ever really likes the inconveniences that come along with infrastructure improvements.
But when the work is finally completed, it makes the area better for those who live here - and helps make it more attractive for those who are looking to make our community home.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times. He is a member of the Steubenville Rotary Club.)