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FREDERICKTOWN — Fredericktown’s streetscape project is expected to be finished by Oct. 31.
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) project began in 2018.
Construction began on the east side of Main Street (Ohio 95), where Mill Street and North Main Street split and go to East Sandusky Street.
All sidewalks were removed and widened along with the installation of historical-aesthetic streetlights.
Thirty-four central-Ohio native trees need to be planted before the project is complete, village administrator Bruce Snell added.
“We just have to wait until it cools off significantly to plant the trees just to increase their chances of surviving,” he said.
In addition to trees, volunteers from Kokosing Construction installed a dozen metal benches throughout downtown, Snell said.
Also, existing diagonal parking spots were replaced by parallel parking spots. The traffic light at South Main Street/East Sandusky Street was replaced by a four-way stop.
The inclusion of a four-way stop instead of traffic lights was because of ODOT’s traffic study that found the amount of traffic in the intersection didn’t justify lights, Snell said.
ODOT’s transportation alternative program (TAP) grant is fully funding the streetscape project, Snell said. The program awards the grant based on creating accessible forms of transportation.