YOUNGSTOWN — City council voted Wednesday to authorize the board of control to sign contracts needed to obtain property, mostly small parcels, along Market Street and Indianola Avenue for a 2027 project to remove 10 traffic signals and replace seven others.

Council voted 6-0 to have the board enter into professional service agreements with a title agency, an appraisal company and a business to review the appraisals for right-of-way acquisitions. Council also voted 6-0 to permit the board of control to authorize payments for those property purchases.

The first contract wouldn’t exceed $150,000 with the city paying 20%, up to $30,000, and the rest coming from federal funding paid through the state.

The actual right-of-way purchases would cost as much as $175,000 with the city responsible for 20%, up to $35,000. The city needs about 20 small parcels for the work to be done at the 17 intersections, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works.

“These are very small pieces of the right-of-way at each corner,” Shasho said.

The project is expected to begin in the summer of 2027. It could take up to a year to complete, Shasho said.

The project will improve vehicular and pedestrian safety, enhance pedestrian accessibility, allow better traffic flow and remove unneeded traffic signals, Shasho said.

The federal grant through the state is covering 80% of the project’s costs. The project is estimated to cost $2,958,750 with $1,942,537 for the construction phase. The rest of the cost is for engineering, construction administration and inspection, and for the purchase of right-of-ways and utility relocations.

The locations where the traffic signals will be removed will instead have stop signs and improved pedestrian ramps, Shasho said.

The Market Street intersections are at Auburndale, Hylda, West Warren, Delason and Myrtle avenues. The Indianola intersections are at Hillman Street, Oak Hill Avenue, Rush Boulevard and Gibson Street. Also, the project includes the removal of traffic signals at the intersection of Glenwood and Parkview avenues, which is near Glenwood’s intersection with Indianola.

The signal replacements will be at Market Street intersections at Midlothian and Southern boulevards as well as Indianola, Dewey, Williamson and Woodland avenues. The other replacement work will be at the intersection of Indianola and South avenues.

There are objections raised at the Market Street intersections with Auburndale, Delason and Myrtle avenues, with the most vocal coming from the Academy for Urban Scholars, 3405 Market St. at the corner of Auburndale Avenue. School officials and students say it is already dangerous to cross the five-lane street and will become worse if the Auburndale traffic light is removed.

There are different options, such as enhanced pedestrian signals that can stop vehicular traffic, to alleviate concerns at the intersections, particularly Auburndale, Shasho said.

Shasho said he doesn’t favor keeping any of the 10 signals that are supposed to be eliminated because two traffic studies show they aren’t needed.

6TH WARD

Council briefly discussed its impending responsibility to fill the empty 6th Ward seat. The position was vacated Jan. 1 by Anita Davis after she took over as council president.

The position is supposed to be filled by the ward’s Mahoning County Democratic Party central committee members.

But party Chairman Chris Anderson told The Vindicator on Tuesday that the party cannot get a quorum of the ward’s members because of two vacancies and three members who haven’t responded to numerous requests to participate. There are supposed to be seven central committee members in the city’s 6th Ward.

That means council will be able to appoint a replacement for Davis as soon as Feb. 15.

Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th Ward, said, “As a body, we need to meet to determine a process moving forward and how we even select that (person). We will be able to work together.”

Under state law, council would have 30 days from Feb. 15 to select a replacement. If it cannot do that, Mayor Derrick McDowell would choose Davis’ successor.

PUMP STATION

Council also approved an ordinance Wednesday to permit the board of control to advertise for bids and enter into a contract for 42-inch waterlines and other work to connect the planned upgrade to the Webb Road pump station and the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District waterline feed.

The engineer’s estimate for the work is $6,472,000, though Harry L. Johnson III, the city’s water commissioner, said those estimates are typically high and the cost won’t be known until bids are opened and one is awarded in the spring.

The city plans to borrow the money for the project from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Supply Revolving Loan Account.

The waterline work must be coordinated with the addition of another pump station at Webb Road, which is needed because the existing one has to undergo repairs. That station distributes water to most of Austintown and Canfield townships through four pumps. The additional station would add two more pumps.

Both parts of the project will be done by the end of the year, Johnson said.

The new station is being built off-site for $2,914,839 by EFI-Solutions Inc. of Centralia, Illinois.

The city is using water funds to pay for the construction of the new station, Johnson said.