YOUNGSTOWN — City council will consider legislation Wednesday that would permit the board of control to enter into an agreement with the state on an estimated $3.7 million improvement project to Mahoning Avenue that would start in 2025.

It also would be the third major project planned on one of the city’s busiest West Side corridors. The three projects would put about $10 million of work into Mahoning Avenue with almost half of it covered by federal and state grants.

The Wednesday legislation is for road resurfacing on Mahoning Avenue from Meridian Road to the Interstate 680 interchange, about 2 miles, that also includes drainage improvements, new curbs, sidewalks and signs.

The proposed agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for the estimated $3.7 million project is for $2,634,629 of the cost to come from a federal grant, administered by the state, with $350,000 coming from the city’s American Rescue Plan allocation and the rest coming from the city’s auto license fee.

But also on council’s agenda for Wednesday is an ordinance to authorize the board of control to enter into a grant agreement with the Ohio Public Works Commission to provide $658,620 in state capital improvement project funding for the project.

“We’ll use state funds for most of our local match,” Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works, said. “It could cost us nothing as $3.7 million is an estimate.”

The $350,000 in ARP funds would go toward sidewalks and reducing pedestrian hazards, and wouldn’t be used as matching dollars as that isn’t permitted under federal law, Shasho said.

The city would seek proposals for the work at the end of the summer of 2024 with the work likely starting in spring 2025, he said.

OTHER PROJECTS

The two other improvement projects to Mahoning Avenue will start next spring, Shasho said.

One project is a proposed $4.5 million waterline replacement with the city applying for a state loan.

It would replace a water mainline on Mahoning Avenue between Belle Vista and Lakeview avenues. The project also includes the replacement of waterlines, several of which contain lead, to about 300 homes on the streets that run south of Mahoning Avenue.

The water main to be replaced is one of two 8-inch lines that run parallel along Mahoning Avenue. Water service on the south side of the street is connected to the line and would be replaced with a 12-inch line.

The streets getting new lines under this proposal are South Maryland, South Portland, South Lakeview, South Evanston, Milton, Halls Heights, Eleanor, South Whitney, Mayfield, McKinley and Olson avenues and Hampton Court.

When the waterline work starts, the city also will begin a $1,739,165 project to have Perram Electric Inc. of Wadsworth install new traffic lights at 10 intersections between Meridian Road and Oak Hill Avenue. That work also will include new curb ramps.

Of that expense, 80 percent is coming from a federal grant administered by the state with the city paying the rest, Shasho said.

The board of control approved that contract in May. It was supposed to start this summer. But to coordinate it with the waterline project and because of equipment issues, it won’t begin until next spring, Shasho said.

The city hired GPD Group, a national company with an office in Youngstown, for $540,000 in September 2019 for design work and engineering on the project. The firm also did a traffic study of the 10 lights to determine if any of the signals should be removed. The study determined that none of the lights should be eliminated, Shasho said.

Vehicular traffic to Mahoning Avenue and the side roads will be maintained during the projects with no detours, Shasho said.

Much of Mahoning Avenue had lane restrictions for close to a year as Dominion Energy Ohio worked on a gas pipe project that finished in June.

ARP ALLOCATION

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, council will vote on an ordinance sponsored by Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th Ward, to spend $40,000 in ARP funds for the police department to be reimbursed for the purchase of two drones with thermal imaging and the training of officers.

With the money coming from Davis’ ARP fund, she said one of the drones will be used by the community police officer in her ward.

“Drones can help the community be safe,” Davis said. “Drones can take a proactive approach to a police pursuit and can help find missing people.”

Davis is a retired Youngstown police officer who serves as chairwoman of council’s safety committee.

Council voted in April 2022 to give $2 million in ARP funds to each of its seven members.

While council has approved more than half of the $14 million in ARP spending, much of it has stalled in the board of control because of concerns from the administration that the requests haven’t been properly vetted to meet federal ARP guidelines and city goals.