MANSFIELD — The City of Mansfield is in the “final design and property acquisition phase” for a planned $13.6 million Main Street Corridor Improvement project.
City engineer Bob Bianchi met on Tuesday afternoon with the Downtown Improvement Advisory Board, members of which agreed to spend up to $17,200 to review appraisals for several parcels.
Bianchi said there are 35 small parcels that need permanent or temporary right-of-way purchase for the project, which will improve the main thoroughfare from First Street to Sixth Street.
The Main Street Corridor Improvement plan will include updated LED street lighting, new curbs and ADA-compliant curb ramps, concrete sidewalks, brick pavers, delineated crosswalks and lighted plazas with seating.
Aging water and sewer infrastructure along Main Street would be also be replaced, according to Bianchi, who said Main Street will be converted to two-way traffic during the process.
(Above is the Main Street Corridor Improvement plan as identified in January 2021.)
The project is in keeping with the goals of the Mansfield Rising downtown reinvestment plan, turning the downtown into a destination rather than an area to travel through on the way to somewhere else.
“One of the things we have heard time and time again from residents, businesses, stakeholders and others is the need to improve the arteries going into the downtown, especially Main Street,” Downtown Mansfield Inc. CEO Jennifer Kime said when the plan was introduced in January 2021.
“We have looked at the current conditions, discussed what we wanted to see and (examined) what was possible.”
She said the effort to replace the nearly 40-year old streetscape would spur visitation to the downtown, promote business growth and increase economic investment in the area while also honoring the city’s long history.
Obtaining the right-of-way to nearly three dozen parcels is the time consuming, but necessary, next step for the project.
“The permanent right-of-way allows us, for example, to put up a signal pole or some signage or a wall that needs to be put in. The temporary allows us to be able to work in that area during construction,” Bianchi said.
He said the right-of-way acquisition takes about 18 months, following the federal process.
“These are all very small,” he said. “Some of them are like 150 square feet, a triangular piece at the intersection, or some strips along Main Street where we need to put something like a retaining wall in or a fence.”
He said the city has hired K.E. McCartney & Associates to design the plans and has also obtained the services of right-of-way specialists, appraisers and title work assistance.
“That is all being funded, in part, by the federal government. But we are required to hire an independent appraiser independent of what’s happening right now. Someone who can review the appraisals,” Bianchi said.
He said only about eight of the parcels needs such appraisal review. He said those reviews have to be 100 percent locally funded, independent of the federal process.
The reviews will cost between $1,800 and $2,500 each, depending on the type of review required, he said.
The engineer said he hopes to have the design and property acquisition completed by November 2024.
“The Spring of 2025 is when we’re hoping to break ground (on the project),” Bianchi said. “We’d love to do it earlier than that. It all depends on how smoothly the right-of-way acquisition process goes,” Bianchi said.
He said work continues to obtain grant funding for the project. To date, the city has procured:
— a $7.38 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) competitive grant.
— a $1.9 million state safety grant.
— $1.9 million grant from Richland County Regional Planning.
— $150,000 in state capital budget funding through state Sen. Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario) and state Rep. Marilyn John (R-Shelby).
“We anticipate a grant from the Richland County Foundation, an Ohio Public Works Commission grant and a transportation improvement district grant,” Bianchi said.
“Our goal is to reduce the total amount of local dollars as much as we can.
“We are getting there, step by step.”
McCartney was awarded a $1 million, two-year design contract for the project in 2021 by City Council.
Bianchi has said the actual construction could take up to two years to complete.
“The nature of the work will require intersections along the corridor to be fully closed at some point. For example, the intersection of Fourth and Main streets could be closed for up to 60 days to complete the work and we would then move onto the next one.
“This project will be done in series, rather than parallel,” he has said.
