MANSFIELD — Darrell Banks will help fund the answer to his own question about safety on Thursday.
The Richland County commissioner had been the first to ask City of Mansfield engineer Bob Bianchi how bicyclists and pedestrians would be able to safely cross a busy, four-lane Trimble Road when a planned B&O Bike Trail connector project is complete.
It would appear Bianchi came up with a satisfactory answer. Bicyclists, runners and walkers will not have to cross the 63-foot-wide section of Trimble Road.
Instead, they will go under it.
Banks joined his two fellow commissioners on Thursday in voting unanimously to award $200,000 from the county’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funds to help fund a 100-foot long, $850,000 tunnel beneath the busy street.
Mansfield City Council voted in March to spend $250,000 on the tunnel from its ARPA funds.
Bianchi said he will seek a $200,000 grant from the Richland County Foundation and also seek City Council approval to see $200,000 from the city’s permissive sales tax.
Banks’ concerns about the Trimble Road crossing came after officials in October explored the possibility of a 1.25-mile, 10-foot wide, multi-use path that would link Trimble Road to the 18.4-mile bike trail that runs from North Lake Park in Mansfield all the way down to Butler.
Engineering/design work and right-of-way acquisition work for that $1.75 million connector has begun, utilizing a variety of funding sources.
It’s funded by $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money from the City of Mansfield, $500,000 in ARPA from Richland County, $150,000 in state capital funds and $600,000 through RCRPC.
(Click above to see the presentation City of Mansfield engineer Bob Bianchi provided to Richland County commissioners on Thursday morning.)
Bianchi met with commissioners on Thursday and outlined the thought process that led to the underground idea vs. a variety of less-safe traffic signals or a costlier, larger bridge over the road.
Included in his presentation was a look at the longer-range B&O Bike Trail connection process that will one day link the bike trail all the way to the Mansfield Arts Center on Marion Avenue — and ultimately to downtown Mansfield.
“This will be one of the most critical crossings we have for this long-range plan,” Bianchi said. “We’re crossing a larger corridor mid-block. The other crossings will be already at an established signal with much lower volume and slower speeds.”
He said the tunnel will be about 200 feet south of Raemelton Boulevard near the Akron Children’s Health Center.
Construction of the tunnel would come in 2025, coinciding with the connector path itself. The concrete box tunnel would be 14 feet high and 10 feet wide and would have a 75-year design life, Bianchi said.
The tunnel will be lit and also have a camera system for safety, he said.
The engineer said Trimble Road would be closed for up to 60 days to complete the work, though the contractor could receive incentives to get the work done quicker.
He said the there would be no flooding concerns in the tunnel.
“It’s going be slanted at a grade. So it’ll be like a large storm sewer conduit. Any water that gets in it will just drain out towards the west. But we will have drainage accommodation upstream of the tunnel, as well,” Bianchi said.
Commissioner Tony Vero asked the city engineer if the proposed tunnel was the “safest, most cost-effective way to take care people who utilize the bike trail?”
Bianchi said, “This is the safest option. I really believe it is.”
Banks was enthusiastic in his support after Bianchi finished his presentation.
“When I mentioned to Bob my concerns about it, I thought we could just use the traffic light where there’s already a pedestrian crossing. Bob explained the cost and the terrain there prevented that. And the cost there was considerable. And so, you won me over,” Banks said.
Commissioner Cliff Mears quickly agreed.
“I think this is the right thing to do for so many reasons, for quality of life safety number one, of course. But there’s economic development. You can access all the restaurants and so on at South Trimble. And it’s truly, as you said, a jewel of Richland County that we can polish up even further, even for greater usage,” Mears said.
