Calls for tenders expected in July for work on phase 1 of the Demorest road

The City of Grove City plans to solicit construction bids for the first phase of its Demorest Road improvement project in July.

“This would allow construction to begin as early as October,” said Mike Keller of EMH & T.

EMH & T’s Keller and Rob Ferguson presented an overview of the Demorest Road project in a virtual meeting on May 27.

Grove City is planning the Demorest Road Corridor Improvement Project from Chickasaw Drive north to Basswood Avenue.

The improvements are expected to allow the pavement to handle the additional traffic expected from the Beulah Park Living development and provide better access to the new Brookpark Middle School that the South-Western School District is building in the Beulah Park area, said Keller.

The upgrades should also make it easier for visitors to drive to Breck Community Park “and improve connectivity from the northwestern neighborhoods of (Grove City) to downtown,” he said.

Demorest will be widened between Rockledge Street and Basswood, with the addition of a central turning lane, Keller said.

A shared-use path will be installed on the east side of the roadway and sidewalks will be added on the west side, he said. A traffic light will be placed on Demorest and Grove City Road.

Other upgrades will include new street lights and improvements to sanitary sewers, storm sewers and water pipes, Keller said.

The project includes resurfacing and adding sanitary sewer improvements to the section of Demorest between Chickasaw and Rockledge, he said.

Grove City successfully applied for funding for the Ohio Public Works Commission project in 2020, including a $ 4 million grant that will not need to be repaid, Keller said.

Other sources of funding include a $ 1 million loan from the Franklin County Infrastructure Bank, $ 180,000 from developer Beulah Park Living, and $ 300,000 from funding from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission for the South School District. -Western City, he said.

The city also allocated $ 1 million to the project in its 2021 budget for its share of the cost of the project, Keller said.

The sanitary sewer work will be funded by more than $ 3 million in loans from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, he said.

A future phase 2 project for Demorest Road would extend the improvements to Sud-Ouest Boulevard.

The city will need to purchase rights of way and easements from 32 landowners on Demorest and Grove City Road, Keller said.

Grove City has hired a property appraisal consultant who will visit each property and write a letter detailing the city’s offer to each owner, he said.

These letters are expected to be sent in June, after which the city will begin negotiations with the landowners, Keller said.

The project can start once these negotiations are completed, he said.

Work on Demorest Road will be completed in three phases, Ferguson said. The first phase, which will last about two weeks, will involve the replacement of a culvert south of Anglebrook Drive, he said.

“The (current) culvert was built in 1947, so it’s about 70 years old and has passed its lifespan,” Ferguson said.

During the culvert replacement work, this section of Demorest will be closed to all traffic except local, he said. Demorest will only be open to northbound traffic during phases two and three, bringing the project to its scheduled completion in the last quarter of 2022, Ferguson said.

During this period, southbound traffic will be diverted or rerouted, he said.

While the work is proceeding on the west side of Demorest, northbound traffic will be maintained on the east side of the road, then the situation will be reversed, northbound traffic will be maintained on the west side when the work takes place on the east side. out of the way, he said.

The goal is to complete the project soon after the new Brookpark School opens in August 2022, he said.

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