YOUNGSTOWN — Another downtown street improvement project — this one to sections of Boardman and Walnut streets — will begin in the summer and likely take more than a year to complete.

The work, estimated to cost $2.87 million, is similar to the $27.65 million project on several other downtown streets that started in July 2020.

The upcoming work includes repaving, reducing vehicular lanes, new and additional diagonal on-street parking, new crosswalks and curb ramps, improved lighting, landscaping, new traffic control signs and a mid-block crossing at Eastern Gateway Community College, said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works.

The work will be done to Boardman Street between Walnut and Market streets and to Walnut Street between Front and Commerce streets, he said.

When the project is done, there will be one lane of traffic in each direction on both streets with turning lanes, he said.

“It’s a road diet to improve greenspace, increase pedestrian walkability and make vehicular traffic safer,” Shasho said.

The city will seek proposals for the work in the spring with the project starting in the summer, he said. It likely won’t be finished until late fall 2025.

Of the estimated $2.87 million cost, about 70% of it is covered by state and federal grants with the city paying the rest, Shasho said.

While efforts will be made to limit road closures during the project, Shasho said, “when you do a road diet, it’s hard to keep the streets open. The idea is to reduce the lanes of traffic so we’re going to have to close the streets.”

The city started its $27.65 million SMART2 (Strategic and Sustainable, Medical and Manufacturing, Academic and Arts, Residential and Recreation, and Technology and Training) Network project with an improvement to Fifth Avenue between West Federal Street and Eastbound Service Road in July 2020.

Other work was done to Front, Commerce and South Phelps streets and Rayen Avenue.

The project to the downtown streets received $10.85 million in federal funding.

The city is finishing up a section of West Federal Street. Still left to be done is Federal Street from Phelps to Champion streets.

That work had to be pulled from the initial job because several basements were discovered in the right of way on sidewalks.

The city expects to have that work start in April and be finished by August.

That work included repaving, reducing vehicular lanes, realignment of curbs, new crosswalks, new lighting, wider sidewalks with changes to parking in places where on-street parking is permitted.

The work, particularly on West Federal Street, drew complaints from several downtown businesses because it closed vehicular traffic for almost a year and made it more difficult for pedestrians to get around the area. The business owners say that hurt their operations.