Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include a breakdown of the funds supporting the construction project.
MOUNT VERNON — Vehicles traveling south into Mount Vernon will face a detour until November 2021, as a safety construction project is underway on State Route 13/Sandusky Street.
Southbound traffic began being redirected Wednesday around 3 p.m. Vehicles on SR 13 now must travel west on SR 95, then south on SR 314 and back east on SR 229 into Mount Vernon, city engineer Brian Ball said.
SR 13/Sandusky Street was converted into one lane, so one-way northbound traffic will not be disrupted, Ball said.
Belmont Avenue will also be closed at SR 13/Sandusky Street as well, with a detour for the Belmont Avenue closure from Cassil Street to Sunset Street, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The project is slated to be completed between November 15, 2021 and November 30, 2021, Ball said, and it is financed by grants from the ODOT and the city.
The total cost of the project is $2,506,353, Morgan Overbey, ODOT District Five Public Information Officer, wrote in an email to Knox Pages. The ODOT Safety Program is providing $560,000, the ODOT Small Cities Program is supplying $1,207,750, and $738,603 is provided by city funds.
The upgrades on SR 13, located between James Street and Franklin Street, come after years of city attempts to obtain funding to improve the area infrastructure, Mayor Matt Starr said.
“If you ever just sit out there, it won’t take long to hear a truck’s jake brake to go off and see a near hit,” Starr said. “It’s pretty obvious (the construction) needs to happen.”
Construction will include widening turn lanes and the road, creating sidewalks, replacing the storm sewer system, replacing the road base to alleviate moisture buildup, and reducing the number of entry points on the road.
“There are lots of driveways, a significant number of driveways to enter the roadway, and that creates a lot of danger to the public,” Ball said.
Starr agreed about the danger posed by the current placement of street exits and entrances.
“It is sort of a free for all when you want to exit those businesses and get out onto the state route,” Starr said.
The two current entrances to the Subway on Sandusky Street, for example, will be converted into a T-intersection and a traffic light will be installed to guide traffic exiting the Subway parking lot. Amato’s Woodfired Pizza will also have one less driveway.
The city conducted an initial safety study on the area in 2014 and a more detailed study in 2017, which is the study that led to the city receiving ODOT funds for the project, Ball said.
Initial aspects of the project began in June with surveying and storm work, but those aspects were completed without having to block off a section of the street, Ball said.
The ODOT award committee awarded the safety construction project to Eclipse Co., LLC, Ball said.
Prior to the current construction, the city made other street and utility improvements in the area.
The city put in utility improvements last year, including 345 linear feet of sanitary sewer line and 200 linear feet of water main along Sandusky Street, Northview Drive, and Stump Street, Starr said. The total cost for these improvements was $463,106, and the city provided roughly 10% of the cost through a Community Development Block Grant, Starr said.
The city also completed a stormwater utility improvement project in the northwest neighborhood last year, through which new curbs, gutters, sidewalks, alleys and catch basins were installed. This project totaled $1,014,160 and the city used it to help leverage CDBG funds for Belmont and Mulberry Streets, Starr said. Starr said the city had funded around 25% of this project.
