Many projects moving forward in Conneaut

Jul. 12—CONNEAUT — The city has a number of projects either taking place this year, or in the works for next year.

One of the most impactful for citizens this year will be the city's paving program.

City council has awarded contracts to a pair of companies for two different aspects of the project.

Koski Construction will handle the city's mill and fill paving program, which includes work on 16th Street, from Chestnut to Harbor, Chestnut Street, from Main to the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, Welton Road, from the CN railroad to Dorman, and North Liberty Street, from Harbor Street to the end of the road. The Geauga Highway Company will also apply a chip-seal on South Ridge Road East.

"That is going to be significant," City Manager Nick Sanford said.

He said the Koski was expected to start work earlier this week, with an expectation that it be completed by the end of the month.

City Council President Terry Moisio said paying attention to infrastructure and roads is one of council's priorities.

Council is trying to address the streets that are most in-need of work first.

"But it has to be a constant process because of the amount of lane miles, state routes and everything that we have," Moisio said. "It's challenging."

Sanford said he also hopes to have Koski fix a washboarding issue on Main Street.

Last year, the city had South Ridge Road East treated with an enzyme-based soil stabilizer, and this year, a chip-seal will be applied over the road, from Route 7 to Furnace Road.

Work on South Ridge Road is expected to start soon, and only take one day to complete, Sanford said.

"It's looking like we're not waiting until October," he said.

When the city accepted bids, Sanford said he would tell both contractors he did not want to see paving take place in the city in the fall, after that had happened in previous years.

Sanford was pleased with the prospect of the project's success.

"Think about it, for under $85,000, we're chip sealing roughly, just under two and a half miles of road," he said. "That's not bad, that goes a long way."

The city has gotten a lot of calls asking if the city could repeat the process on more gravel roads.

City Council President Terry Moisio said he is very excited about the project, and is looking forward to seeing how it works.

"That allows us to have some wiggle room to get some of these road improvements done," he said.

Moisio said he would be open to using the soil stabilization followed by chip sealing in the future.

"If it works, because it's cost-effective, absolutely," he said. "Trying to get the most bang for our buck."

He said city council wanted to see how the soil stabilization would go through the seasons.

"So far, so good," he said. "We've still got to focus on infrastructure too, like grading, ditching and things like that, especially on the gravel roads, the southern roads. So we're making progress, slowly but surely, we're making progress."

A road construction project that may be even more impactful on city residents is the upcoming reconstruction of a section of Broad Street, from State Street north to the underpass.

The project was initially slated to run from State Street to Jackson Street, but due to COVID-19-related cost increases, the scope of the project had to be reduced.

"The state is going to have Broad Street out for bid, I believe in January," Sanford said.

Moisio said city council would like to see some of the rougher areas of the road patched soon, to make it more passable for motorists until construction starts.

"We're still looking at doing that," he said.

The city will also be putting out to bid work on infrastructure improvements at Park Avenue and Day Street in the second half of the year, Sanford said.

"That's sanitary sewer, waterline, streetscape," he said. "There's Ohio Public Works Commission funding tied to that."

Sanford said city staff want that project to get out the door.

Moisio said there are three phases to it, and the first two phases will hopefully begin soon.

The third phase includes paving Day Street, north of Park Avenue, which is currently gravel, Moisio said.