By Jay Fossett
City of Dayton
Three major road and sidewalk projects are underway in the City of Dayton,all of which will improve pedestrian safety, walkability, and drivability in the city.
The three projects are:
• Curb extensions – also known as “bump-outs” – on the sidewalks along Sixth Avenue between McKinney Street and Berry Avenue.
•Construction of the Berry Street Connector, which will connect the north end of Berry Avenue to Manhattan Boulevard, which runs parallel to the flood levee along the Ohio River.
• Repaving of Ky. 9 from Mary Ingles Highway at Clark Street to O’Fallon Avenue.
“These major infrastructure improvements will help to address important transportationissues – for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic — in our growing city,” said Dayton Mayor Ben Baker. “Both the Sixth Avenue bump-out project and the Berry Street Connector project have been years in the making and we are excited to finally see these projects come to fruition this
summer in downtown Dayton.”
Sixth Avenue Bump-outs
Construction crews are currently working on the Sixth Avenue curb extension project as part of a Safe Routes to Schools grant the city received from Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Bump-outs are designed to increase pedestrian safety, particularly for children walking to and from school, reduce traffic congestion, and create a more livable, walkable community.
The 13 sidewalk-bump-outs in the Central Business District extend sidewalks and pedestrian areas into the parking lanes on Sixth Avenue, which narrows the roadway to provide additional pedestrian space and safety at these locations. The benefits of curb extensions are:
• Increased pedestrian visibility at intersections through improved sightlines
• Decreased pedestrian exposure to vehicles by shortening the crossing distance
• Reduced vehicle-turn speeds by physically and visually narrowing the roadway
• Additional space for street furnishings, lights, outdoor dining, plantings, and other amenities
• Reduced illegal parking at corner crosswalks and bus stops.
Adleta Construction started excavation work earlier this month and Bansal Construction is in the process of finishing installation of electrical conduit needed to service lights in the bump-out areas. Next week, Adleta will start installing new curbs along Sixth Avenue. Duke Energy, through its subcontractor, AMS Construction, is expected to start installing bases for the light poles on the curb extensions from July 24 and 31.
In early August, Adleta is expected to start pouring and finishing concrete for the new sidewalks and curbs. The entire project is expected to be completed by end of August but could be finished sooner.
“This project has been more than 10 years in the making,” Mayor Baker said. “This is an important step toward improving our downtown streetscape and pedestrian safety in our central business district.”
Berry Street Connector
Work on the Berry Street Connector, which will connect Berry Street to Manhattan Boulevard, is expected on Monday, July 17. Ford Development Corporation, under the direction of Manhattan Harbour Project, LLC, the master developer of the development along Manhattan Boulevard, is the general contractor for this project.
The initial work will be removing about 150 feet of existing pavement from the northern terminus of Berry Street, which ends at the flood levee just north of Second Avenue. The new road will traverse the levee and connect with Manhattan Boulevard, which runs along the Ohio River.
The contractor will then do utility work at the site, including raising an existing sewer manhole by about 13 feet and connecting this sewer line to the sewer at an existing manhole at the intersection of Second Avenue and Berry Street.
Later this month and into the month of August, thousands of cubic yards of dirt will be trucked in and dumped at the construction site to construct the base upon which the connector road will sit. A retaining wall will be constructed on the west side of the proposed road next to the Dayton Community and Meeting Center.
New pavement and sidewalks are expected to be installed in September from Second Avenue to Manhattan Boulevard. The Berry Street Connector is being constructed under the terms of a development agreement the city and Manhattan Harbour Project, LLC
entered into June 1, 2009.
“This is a very important road project for the City of Dayton,” Mayor Baker said. “When complete, it will allow easy access to residents living Manhattan Harbour as well as visitors enjoying our riverfront trails there to easily access our Central Business District and the restaurants, bars, shops, and other businesses located there.”
“This new connection will also provide our police and fire personnel with a quicker and more convenient route to the homes, streets, and trails in this area and it will no longer require our first responders to first travel to the far ends of Manhattan Boulevard at O’Fallon Avenue or Mary Ingles Highway to respond to public-safety calls from this neighborhood.”
Repavement of Ky. 8. in Dayton
Once the work on the Sixth Avenue bump-out project is complete, KYTC plans to repave this state highway route, which runs from the floodwall at Mary Ingles Highway to Fourth Avenue, then for two blocks on Clay Street, then on Sixth Avenue to the city’s border with Bellevue at O’Fallon Avenue. KYTC also plans to repave Fairfield Avenue in Bellevue to I-471.
KYTC repaved Ky. from the floodwall at Clark Street to the City of Fort Thomas last year.
The City of Dayton also plans to repave Second Avenue from Benham Street to Main Street in the city’s industrial park using Municipal Road Aid funding from the state.
