Main Street update: Concrete infield installation underway at Fourth Street

MANSFIELD — Winter is coming and the $19.3 million Main Street Corridor Improvement project is nearing the end of its 2025 construction season.

Brent Rossman, communications specialist at Downtown Mansfield Inc., told merchants on Thursday that the intersection of Main and Fourth streets will reopen in late November for vehicle traffic during the winter.

“Then they’ll go into winter, where there won’t be active construction,” Rossman said. “The one thing we will see happening over the winter is light poles going up, but it’s not going to be limiting our access like it has been.

“I think that that’s going to be a nice breath of fresh air for everybody downtown, hopefully we get some relief from the disruption that you’ve all been experiencing.”

Heavy construction will resume in the spring for a project that began in March and is on schedule to be completed by October 2026, according to DMI.

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.

(Photos below showing recent construction progress on Main Street in downtown Mansfield are provided by Braxton Daniels/Studio 45.)

Officials have said the purpose of the Main Street Improvement Project is to:

• Improve access to local business and boost economic development.
• Create a safe, walkable, pedestrian friendly environment.
• Beautify downtown Mansfield, making it more attractive for residents, visitors, and potential new businesses.
• Celebrate the history and culture of Mansfield.

Every part of the streetscape along Main Street is being upgraded, including:

• New water lines and storm sewers.
• New sidewalks and brick crosswalks.
• New signage and traffic signals.
• New landscaping and lighting.
• New landscaping, furniture, and gathering spaces in Central Park and in the plazas at Park Avenue West and Main streets.
• Converting the traffic pattern from one-way to two-way.

According to DMI, here is the work expected to be completed in the next two weeks:

• Sidewalk installation at the the intersection of Fourth and Main streets and between Third and Fourth streets.
• Concrete infield installation at the Fourth Street intersection.
• Continued drainage installation at First Street.
• Continued electric and ethernet service relocation.
• Continued underground electrical work between Third and Fourth streets.
• Continued decorative brick sidewalk features installation between Fourth and Fifth streets.

Here is the latest traffic and accessibility impact report from DMI.

• Main is closed from Fourth Street to Park Avenue.
• Main Street is open up to Temple Court to allow access to the Brickyard and Fourth and Fifth street businesses. Drivers using this route must exit through the Brickyard onto Diamond or Fifth streets.
• Though the Third and Fourth street intersections are closed, on-street parking remains available on Third and Fourth between Diamond and Walnut during closures of those intersections (drive around barrier to park)
• Businesses will remain open and accessible to pedestrians at all times. Watch for marked pedestrian detours and watch your step for uneven ground.