Council soon will be asked to authorize advertising on bids for the first phase work that will be done from Cherry Street just west of the Public Square west to the Ridge Avenue intersection.
A council committee last week agreed to recommend full council approve the bidding after hearing the cost update on “the long awaited, much anticipated” project from Titterington.
Construction is to begin shortly after the June Strawberry Festival. During each of two phases, the plan is to maintain traffic with at least one lane open in each direction. The projects are planned to take more than two years.
City Engineer Jill Rhoades said staff has been talking with contractors about the project the past couple of years. She thinks five to seven area contractors (including Dayton) will be interested in bidding on phase one. The second phase work will move from Ridge Avenue west to the area near Interstate 75.
West Main Street “is our biggest primary street, a major state route that connects our downtown to our interstate access, as well as our largest commercial corridor,” Titterington said.
“The project will not only add new stoplights and other safety features at intersections, but will widen the lanes, move sidewalks away from the vehicle lanes and better coordinate traffic movement, but will clean up the corridor aesthetically by removing overhead lights and other visual clutter that will be a more welcoming sight to residents and visitors,” he said.
Project funding is coming partially from grants, and also from the city’s capital improvement fund and water, stormwater, sewer funds.
The city will need to reappropriate some money from the budget if bids come in at the added estimated cost, Titterington said, adding financing options were being discussed with the city auditor.
Plans for the second phase are still being finalized but at this point the estimated overall project cost is around $13.5 million.
Project planning has been underway since 2016, when the city conducted a West Main Street (Ohio 41) Corridor Improvement and Safety Study.
Despite the growing cost, Titterington said just not doing the project is not an option.
“The project has been planned for many years, is long overdue for basic maintenance, would be costly just to provide that basic maintenance (although not as costly as this comprehensive project), and is too important of a corridor to disregard or ignore,” he said.
Each of the two construction phases will include its own challenges. Phase one involves safety enhancements in front of Kettering Hospital along with streetscape and intersection changes in and near downtown, Titterington said. The second phase will involve a lot more commercial property, offering a different set of challenges.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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