Brown Street changes get boost with $950k grant

Streetscape part of plan to make Dayton an aerospace hub, city manager says.

Illustration provided by the City of Dayton shows a proposed redesign of Brown street that would widen sidewalks and reduce the number of automobile lanes.

Submitted Illustration provided by the City of Dayton shows a proposed redesign of Brown street that would widen sidewalks and reduce the number of automobile lanes.

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By Lucas Sullivan, Staff Writer Updated 7:13 AM Thursday, July 8, 2010

DAYTON — City officials are punching the gas on a proposed Brown Street corridor project they hope will reduce vehicle traffic and create business in the area near the University of Dayton and ultimately, the region.

The project, more than two years in the making, has been jump-started by a $950,000 development grant from the state’s roadwork development fund. The money recently became available and the city must act quickly to receive it, officials said.

Plans for Brown/Warren street include reducing it to one lane in each direction, installing bike lanes, limiting on-street parking and widening sidewalks.

The plan impacts South Main Street near Miami Valley Hospital where a fifth lane — a middle turn lane — will be added to make it a primary thoroughfare to and from Oakwood and Kettering.

Street improvements alone will cost $3.5 million to $4 million and the city plans to piece together additional funds as it goes, said Steve Finke, assistant director of operations for the city.

Accepting the state grant forces the city to draw up a contract for bidding, but the earliest construction will begin on Brown Street is August 2011, Finke said. The Main Street project will likely not go out for bid until sometime in 2013, he said.

The project is part of a plan to make Dayton an aerospace hub, City Manager Tim Riordan said. Connecting UD to Tech Town, designed as incubator for aerospace technology jobs, is a crucial part of the project.

“It’s about building good jobs in our focus area of sensors, defense and aerospace,” said Commissioner Matt Joseph. “We want to increase physical and through traffic between the two areas and allow people to work, eat and play in the same area.”

In other business from the Wednesday, July 7, City Commission meeting:

• Steve R. Rauch Inc., of Dayton, was awarded $522,838 in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Project funds to demolish about 100 residential buildings throughout the city. The city also awarded $183,500 in NSP funds to Hart Environmental Resources to inspect roughly 600 homes for asbestos.

The city has more than 2,000 homes on its nuisance list slated for demolition.

• Commissioners handed out nearly $300,000 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development emergency shelter grants to six non-profit agencies that provide shelter services to the homeless.

The St. Vincent Hotel received $80,000, the largest chunk, to provide emergency shelter for homeless.

The YWCA will receive $56,700; Homefull, formerly The Other Place, $50,000; The American Red Cross received $42,000; The Salvation Army $34,300 and Daybreak $27,000.

There were more than 7,000 people in need of homeless services in Montgomery County as of 2008, according to a study by the county’s Homeless Solutions program.

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