By Rick Palsgrove
Southeast Editor
Part of Groveport’s Main Street will be resurfaced this year and the city is joining in Franklin County’s bid process on the project to help save money.
The Main Street resurfacing is part of Groveport’s annual street maintenance program. The 2019 budget includes $450,000 from the street fund and $105,000 from the storm water fund for the program. This year’s street maintenance program includes resurfacing work on Main Street from College Street to Front Street (which was reconstructed in 1989-90) and on Main Street from Front Street east (which was reconstructed in 2003) to a point near the Groveport Recreation Center.
“At this point, we are assuming that all of the work is being attached to Franklin County’s project in order to obtain better bids,” said Groveport City Administrator Marsha Hall. “The county’s bid will be for several areas within the county. Costs for larger projects are usually much less than for smaller projects. Our portion of the Main Street project will be from College Street east to our corporation limits. Franklin County is responsible for the remainder of the project. Whether the project includes the Main and College street intersection is still being determined, based on cost.”
Hall said Franklin County is still determining the estimated cost for the Main Street resurfacing.
“Once we know this, we will determine what additional work will be done,” said Hall. “One project that we know will be completed is some work on Raver Alley, cracksealing in various areas, and pavement markings.”
The start and end dates for the Main Street resurfacing project have not yet been determined.
When asked if there will be any detours while Main Street is being resurfaced, Hall said, “At this point we don’t believe so. Final determination on that will be made at a later time.”
Previously, Main Street had brick crosswalks at several intersections, but they were removed several years ago because they had become rough and presented maintenance issues.
When asked if the city will consider installing brick crosswalks on Main Street again, Hall said, “We are in discussions regarding this currently and will provide information on it as soon we’ve made a final decision of which, if any, crosswalks will be installed with this project.”
A brick “test” crosswalk that has been in place for a few years on Wirt Road at Main Street has some cracks in its bricks.
“As part of our discussions, our engineer has determined that the failure of the test crosswalk is due to a road base failure, not the crosswalk itself,” said Hall. “The correction of that area will be part of this year’s project.”
