$5.5 million project targets perilous St. Clair road

LISBON -- The Columbiana County Engineer's Office is planning to eliminate an extremely curvy section of road in St. Clair Township.

County Engineer Bert Dawson told the county Transportation Improvement District board on Monday if everyone works out that realignment of the problematic section of Calcutta-Smith Ferry Road, which is a county road, could begin this summer.

The targeted area is a small section of Calcutta-Smith Ferry Road just west of Vernon Dell Tractor. There are two major curves high on a hill as the road begins a downward plunge to East Liverpool Road, and Dawson said the plan is to eliminate those curves by straightening out the section.

The cost is an estimated $5.5 million, which Dawson calls "one of the biggest projects we've done in awhile." The county has secured a combination of federal and state grants to cover about 80 percent of the cost, with the engineer's office required to contribute $600,000.

Dawson is chairman of the TID board, which was created about five years ago by county commissioners to seek funding for local road projects in general. The board is eligible to seek state TID grants of up to $250,000 annually and agreed at Monday's meeting to ask that its 2021 application be for the Calcutta-Smith Ferry Road project. He said this would be used to address the drainage portion of the project.

TID grants are awarded in May, and if the board's application is approved, Dawson anticipates construction could begin sometime this summer. He said the work would take nine months.

There about 15 affected property owners, and Dawson said they have already secured the necessary right of ways. The engineer's office is working with the Buckeye Water District in seeking a grant to help pay for relocation of the BWD waterline that runs along the road.

The project was first proposed about a decade ago, and the engineer's office has been working quietly behind the scenes to secure the funding to make it happen. Dawson said like most projects that involve federal funding and approval "there a lot of hoops you have to jump through."

In other action at the board meeting, Jackie Shreeve, Dawson's administrative assistant, updated members on the Beaver Local school district crosswalk project. Beaver Local's K-12 campus is located across the road from the Madison Plaza, which is home to a restaurant/bakery and gym popular with students and staff. To get there, students must walk across the heavily traveled Bell School Road, and there is no crosswalk.

The school learned of a federal grant available through the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association, and Columbiana County is a member county. The grant requires a local government agency to serve as the applicant, and the TID board agreed. The grant would cover 95 percent of the cost, with Beaver Local responsible for the remaining 5 percent.

The plan is to put in a traditional crosswalk with light pole and solar-powered flashing pedestrian warning lights. The crosswalk would be across from the plaza and near the baseball field. The cost is an estimated $98,140.

OMEGA will act on the grant application this summer, and if approved Beaver Local would have until July 2023 to complete the project.

tgiambroni@mojonews.com