The federally-funded project will widen sidewalks, replace century-old pavement, shrink down sections of the road and add a protected cycle track, decorative lighting and pedestrian islands and medians.
The upgrades coincide with growing redevelopment interest and activity in the Salem Avenue corridor because of recent and planned investments, including new housing and the planned opening of the Gem City Market.
“We are talking about a full reconstruction of Salem Avenue, and the opportunity is here to create a streetscape that we would like and infrastructure on which to build and design our future for the Salem Avenue area,” said Steve Makovec, secretary and treasurer of the Salem Avenue Peace Corridor.
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At 5 p.m. Thursday, the city of Dayton will host a public meeting to discuss the reconstruction of Salem Avenue. The meeting will be held at Grace United Methodist Church at 1001 Harvard Blvd.
Visitors will learn about the project, which will happen across three phases, with the first kicking off next year, city officials said.
Salem Avenue’s pavement is deteriorating and failing after originally being installed more than 100 years ago, the city said.
Phase 1 will rebuild 1,900 feet of Salem Avenue from North Avenue to Manhattan Avenue.
Phase 2, which is expected to begin in 2022, will reconstruct Salem Avenue from West Riverview Avenue to North Avenue.
The third and final phase will improve the roadway from Manhattan Avenue to Cornell Drive. This stage is expected to start and finish in 2023.
A notable part of the project is a two-way cycle track that will be installed from West Riverview Avenue to West Grand Avenue, where it will dead-end.
It is expected to be the second protected bicycle path in the city. The first is planned for West Third Street.
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The new cycling track, with lanes in each direction, will be separated from vehicular traffic and the roadway by a curb that will be about 2 feet wide and will have street light poles and signage.
Bicycles are seldom seen on lower Salem Avenue because of how fast cars travel on the road and a lack of bike lanes.
Lower Salem Avenue will be slimmed down to five lanes from six. There will be two lanes in each direction and a center turn lane.
The city expects to create protected parking lanes with bumpouts on the east side of Salem, from Grand to Plymouth avenues.
The city wants to put in raised medians to block dangerous left turns and provide pedestrians a place to stand and wait for gaps in traffic.
New raised concrete islands are planned for the Federal Street and Plymouth Avenue intersections.
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The project also will include crosswalk improvements at intersections, such as decorative or eye-catching surface upgrades like stamped-concrete, Weinel said. New lighting will be similar to the decorative poles found on South Main and Brown streets.
The Salem Avenue design work is far along, but design details have not been finalized and the city wants to hear from the public, Weinel said.
“We want people to know about the project, and we are still taking comments,” he said.
The project will be funded with federal dollars, Ohio Public Works Commission funds, city general capital dollars and other sources. The city applied for and received federal transportation dollars through the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.
The pedestrian improvements hopefully will help activate some of the more rundown or distressed parts of lower Salem Avenue, city officials said.
The enhancements hopefully will slightly slow down traffic in a way that contributes to bringing back a lively neighborhood business district, said Makovec, who is also the president of the Jane Reece Neighborhood Association.
“If we do it right, it will dramatically improve the pedestrian experience,” he said.
Improved infrastructure and a more appealing streetscape will encourage new business investment and will help shape a new and bright future for Salem Avenue, Makovec said.
“We are trying to make this an attractive, welcoming and friendly area for doing business and for providing the businesses and services that our residents have been telling us for years they would like,” Makovec said.
Optimism about the corridor has been growing because of investments like the Gem City Market, which is a full-service and community-owned grocery store that expects to open later this year.
New housing has moved into the area, such as Audubon Crossing, which is a 50-unit senior housing project that officially opened at the end of 2018. The housing sits just behind the police station on Salem Avenue.
Downtown’s housing boom is spreading to surrounding neighborhoods, including the areas across the river along the Salem Avenue corridor, city officials said.
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