Road work, including the ongoing East Second Street project and the upcoming major construction next year on Veterans Bridge, were discussed at Thursday’s Oil City Council meeting.
City manager Mark Schroyer talked in detail about PennDOT’s plans to undertake the extensive repairs to Veterans Bridge, with the work planned for most of the summer.
The repairs include replacing the surface of the bridge deck, and the project will necessitate closing the bridge and detouring traffic for several months.
“The Oil Heritage Festival is in real jeopardy unless they change location,” Schroyer said, adding that it seems that BridgeFest will be pushed back to September.
While Veterans Bridge is closed, the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad plans to replace the railroad crossings at Elm and Center streets, Schroyer said.
He said the railroad indicated it will start on the Elm Street crossing in mid- to late June and once that is finished move on to the Center Street crossing either immediately or with a short break in between the projects.
The railroad’s plans to replace the bridge over Oil Creek on the North Side have been pushed back until 2025, he added.
Plans for traffic detours will be submitted to the city for approval and the railroad will contract a company to set up the detours while it replaces the railroad crossings, Schroyer said.
“Traffic is going to be a snafu,” Schroyer repeatedly said Thursday while talking about the various projects that will be done on the North Side next summer.
One concern was that with Veterans Bridge closed and Center Street closed briefly for the railroad crossing replacement there will be no way for larger trucks to make some of the turns on the streets traffic would be detoured to, Schroyer said.
“We may have to ban truck traffic in the city for a week or so. Obviously that will impact the industrial park where most of the truck traffic goes,” Schroyer said, adding that at least they know enough in advance to get the word out and plan for it.
The construction will also impact everyone on Elm Street near the bridge including City Hall, CASA headquarters, McDonalds and Double Play, Schroyer said.
Schroyer said there is discussion about two-way traffic on Elm Street with the right turning lane on the three-lane part of Elm converted to a lane for oncoming traffic either beginning at Sycamore Street or Center Street.
East Second update
Meanwhile, Jason Herman, the city’s water department director, told council that contractor S.E.T. Inc. of Youngstown, Ohio, had planned to begin pouring sidewalks Thursday, but the work was delayed due to the weather.
The sidewalks will be poured into the weekend, Herman said.
By the end of this year, Schroyer said he is very confident East Second will be paved from curb to curb down to the area of Giant Eagle.
The plan is to pave a strip down the center of East Second from the area of Giant Eagle to Buzzard’s Bend where Route 62 intersects with East Second, Schroyer said.
A lot is dependent on how long the asphalt plants stay open and the weather, Schroyer said.
Council voted earlier this month to grant an extension to S.E.T. Work is expected to wrap up by June 2024.
In other business at Thursday’s meeting, the city’s paving committee will meet in early December to determine next year’s paving schedule, Schroyer said.
The committee has already received several petitions for paving particular streets, he added.
Schroyer said residents who would like to have their street considered by the paving committee should submit a petition, including pictures of the issues with the street and signatures from residents of that street.
He noted that the main two sources of funding for street paving in Oil City are Community Development Block Grant and liquid fuels money.
Since the CDBG funding can only be used in low- to moderate-income areas, all residents are asked to fill out a survey to see if their street qualifies for the funds.
But Schroyer said there is about a two-year delay from the time that survey is filled out until the city gets the CDBG money to do the paving.
The 2023 CDBG money likely won’t be available until 2025, Schroyer said. He said the survey is for the CDBG application, not for the street paving itself.
