Several employees of Foust Construction of Girard work Thursday on the easternmost part of West Federal Street pouring and shaping concrete curbs.....Staff photo / Ed Runyan

YOUNGSTOWN —- Several employees of Foust Construction of Girard worked Thursday on the easternmost part of West Federal Street downtown.

They were pouring and shaping concrete curbs.

The newly constructed island in the center of West Federal Street will contain plants similar to those on other downtown streets that are part of the SMART2 Network program that has improved Fifth and Rayen avenues, and Front, Commerce and South Phelps streets.

The Federal Street work is part of the Youngstown SMART2 Network that was awarded $10.85 million through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s BUILD Transportation Discretionary Grant program in December of 2018. Work is nearing completion.

The project cost a total of $27.65 million.

The Youngstown SMART2 Network will connect Strategic & Sustainable, Medical & Manufacturing, Academic & Arts, Residential & Recreational, Technology & Training centers in the heart of the Mahoning Valley region, by enhancing mobility, improving safety, and integrating technology into a modern and efficient multi modal transportation system in Downtown Youngstown that responsive to adaptive to the needs of current and future users, according to the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments.

Federal Street work includes repaving, realignment of curbs, new crosswalks, new lighting, wider sidewalks

and changes to parking.