MANSFIELD — Main Street will soon be open through downtown Mansfield — for the winter.
The $20.3 million corridor improvement project — which began in March and is expected to be complete by October 2026 — is about to halt major work for the winter, according to city engineer Bob Bianchi.
Intersections at Third and Fourth streets should be open by Wednesday and traffic on Main will be restored to one lane southbound through the project no later than Dec. 3, the city engineer said Monday.
According to Bianchi, temporary road striping will be placed on Main Street for the winter months before major work begins again in the spring.
“Work will continue with brick work north of Fourth Street, installing decorative brick along the sidewalk after Thanksgiving,” Bianchi said.
(Below: Work continues on the Main Street Corridor Improvement Project. Photos by Braxton Daniels/Studio 45)
The project is a complete upgrade of Main Street from First to Sixth streets and Park Avenue from Main to Diamond streets, designed by K.E. McCartney & Associates of Mansfield with Kokosing Construction as the primary contractor.
According to the city, 82 percent of the funding for the project is coming from non-local government funds, including a $7.3 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant secured in 2022.
Officials have said the effort to replace the nearly 40-year-old streetscape will spur visitation to the downtown, promote business growth and increase economic investment in the area, while also honoring the city’s long history.
Bianchi said electrical crews will continue installing light pole foundations south of Park Avenue and that electric signal and foundation work will occur intermittently through the winter.
Bianchi said workers will complete a decorative wall on the southeast corner of the intersection at Fourth Street near the Municipal Parking lot, which will allow room for landscape planting and seeding.
“There will also be general site cleanup through the project limits during the winter months,” the engineer said. “Construction will start up heavier again in April.”
He said the project is on schedule to be done in October of next year.
The city has received an additional $1 million from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternative Program, raising the agency’s portion of the overall work to $4 million.
“In part, it will help us fund additional costs incurred based off of unknowns in the field that we encountered during construction,” Bianchi said.
“We are very grateful for ODOT’s partnership in this effort for helping to ensure we will finish with a successfully completed project, fulfilling the intent of the grant dollars.”
Snow fence and cones will remain in some locations for safety over the winter to mark off trip hazards and open excavations.
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