MOUNT VERNON – The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) awarded Mount Vernon $900,000 to construct a shared-use path on Mansfield Road from Dan Emmett Elementary School north to the city limits.
ODOT made the award from the federally funded Transportation Alternatives Program. The funds will be available in fiscal year 2024.
“Why it is important is because it’s going to connect the sidewalk from Dan Emmett Elementary School, which is on the north end of town, out to the city limits,” Mayor Matt Starr told the Mount Vernon News.
A shared-use path is for biking, walking and ADA access, City Engineer Brian Ball told the News. The 10-foot concrete path will be approximately 4,300 feet long.
“There are people who will be able to ride their bike into town or walk into town and not have to walk out on the road,” he said, adding that to have a healthy community, residents need to walk and exercise.
“Students need to be able to walk to school,” Ball said. “Not everyone owns or has access to a car.”
Starr thinks the path will get as much use as the sidewalk on Newark Road.
“I love it when we get our federal tax dollars back in this community,” he said.
The lead time on the grant gives communities time to work on design- and environmental work, Ball said. ODOT does not want cities and villages to work on projects that won’t get funded. Now the City can have public meetings and work toward the design details, including stormwater upgrades.
It is too early to know the construction date, but Ball expects it will start in 2024 or 2025.
Engineering
The North Main and Chestnut Street intersection project is making progress.
“It’s still wreaking havoc on our traffic backing up,” Starr said. “But we’re very close to getting that thing back opened up and restoring traffic to where it was in a safer capacity. It’s going to help traffic flow so much better.”
Streets
The City’s street sweeper broken down, putting crews behind on their schedule. Once it was fixed, they helped out a City contractor by sweeping the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge on Thursday.
Crews also cleaned up the park-and-ride lot by the intersection of Harcourt Road and State Route 229.
“We were having some people dumping their trash into the recycle bins and just leaving a mess,” Starr said.
Now the lot is in good shape for people who need to carpool to Columbus or south of town.
Pothole repairs, alley grading and stop sign replacement work also continues.
Utilities
Residents might see city crews in their yards, Starr said.
“We do have manholes and valves that are located in the resident’s yard,” he said.
The workers will have a white truck with the City’s logo on it.
“We want people to know we’re going to be out doing some maintenance,” Starr said. “So don’t be alarmed.”
Fire Department
The South Main Street bridge and the Reston Tower will shine with red lights today in honor of local firefighters for International Firefighters Day.
Chief Chad Christopher said the Foundation Park Conservancy will light up the bridge and tower on Wednesday because another group had reservations for them on Tuesday, the official day.
International Firefighters Day was established to commemorate the dedication and service firefighters provide to communities, Starr said.
In a firefighter/paramedic test given on April 28, 19 of the 21 individuals passed the exam. Notification letters have been sent out. Those who passed the exam will be scheduled for the physical agility test at the Knox County Career Center later in May.
Arbor Day
The Shade Tree and Beautification Commission joined the mayor at East Elementary School on Friday for a tree dedication in honor of National Arbor Day. They were accompanied by 150 students for the short ceremony in front of the school.
Parks
The Mount Vernon Girls Softball League began its 43rd year of operations. Starr threw out the first pitch and read a proclamation. He said this year is important after missing last year because of the pandemic.
The 30 teams in the league are coached by volunteers. They call Mount Vernon Memorial Park home. Many of the young women compete in softball and other sports after participating in the league.
Economic development
Starr and auditor Terry Scott toured International Paper’s Mount Vernon location on Granville Road last week.
Starr said the company is looking to get involved with the community, so they are being introduced to the Shade Tree and Beautification Commission.
The mill in Mount Vernon makes corrugated boxes, with Amazon and Chewy being two of its biggest customers.
“If you’ve ordered anything from Amazon in this area, it likely came from the Mount Vernon plant,” Starr said. “Same thing with the pet store, Chewy.”
The City is looking forward to working with International Paper on community projects that are mutually beneficial. The company understands tree sustainability because their business depends on it.
“They plant a lot of trees every year because it’s what they use for their products,” Starr said.