MANSFIELD — The remaining two phases of the West End Neighborhood Improvement Plan are set to begin in May.
The city of Mansfield Board of Control on Tuesday morning awarded a $3,066,241 contract to Smith Paving & Excavating for the work, which will redo the Glessner Avenue streetscape between Sturges Avenue and Main Street.
City engineer Bob Bianchi said the city received two bids for the final two construction phases. Smith had the lower of the two. Reitschlin Construction of Crestline had the other bid at $3,090,650.
Phase one of the project along Glessner between Wood Street and Sturges Avenue was completed in 2022.
The overall plan was created by EDGE Landscape, Architecture, Urban Design and Planning.
That initial phase had a $1.1 million price tag, funded through the city’s federal Community Development Block Grant funds and private donations raised through the Richland Community Development Group.
That work was also done by Smith Paving & Excavating, a company based in Norwalk.
The design of the remaining two phases was estimated in 2022 at around $499,000. City Council and the Richland County Board of Commissioners each agreed to fund $200,000 of the design using American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
Adrian Ackerman, the city’s community development and housing director, said CDBG money would account for about $1.8 million of the second two phases. Bianchi said the remainder would come from a mix of four city funds — water, sewer, street and street resurfacing.
Mansfield City Council approved the construction project March 17, Ackerman said
Bianchi said the project will focus on beautification, including new signals, sidewalks, brick crosswalks, landscaping, decorative lighting and retaining walls, as needed. The road will also be repaved at the end of the process, he said.
The work should be complete in June 2027, based on the amount of time needed to receive new traffic signal poles, usually around 10 months.
The engineer said traffic would be maintained during most of the project, though there would be 45-day intermittent closures, largely for the installation of brick crosswalks. He said those closures would be communicated in advance to the city’s safety services and area fire departments who may be transporting patients to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital.
Ackerman said the delay between the initial phase and phases two and three was designed to allow the city to build up the federal funds.
“We also reached a point where we determined that it’s going to be a lot more cost effective to do both phases together rather than separately,” Ackerman said.
Bianchi, who noted the project was in the city’s 2026 financial budget, said the work would include some stormwater improvements and water main replacements, especially a line at Mulberry and Glessner that has failed “many times.”
Ackerman said she will be happy to see the project completed.
“It’s been pretty extensive. The HUD regulations tied to it make it a little more complicated. But I think it will be great to see it completed,” she said.
During a celebration to mark the end of the phase one construction, Ackerman credited many of those involved in the effort, including Chuck Hahn of the Cleveland Financial Group. Hahn helped form an advisory group three years ago to raise private funds needed for the engineering and design of the project.
The first phase included updating, upgrading and/or replacing sidewalks, installation of new street lighting and improved/update crosswalks (including ADA-compliant curb ramps), as well as retaining walls and more decorative elements, such as tree lawns, etc.
