By Christine Bryant
Staff Writer
Beginning in July, those who travel on Main Street will notice a speed reduction in downtown Reynoldsburg.
Currently 35 miles per hour, the section of roadway between Lancaster Avenue and Waggoner Road will decrease to 25 miles per hour as the city begins a water main replacement project.
The construction project will begin late July and will continue until November, said Bill Sampson, director of public service.
After the construction project is completed, however, the city intends to keep the speed limit at 25 miles per hour just west of Waggoner to Lancaster, he said.
“The short- and long-term goal of the speed limit reduction is safety,” Sampson said. “Vick’s new location is set to open in a few weeks. To encourage new developers in Olde Reynoldsburg, we need to have in place a safe environment for vehicular and pedestrian traffic.”
Sampson said the timing of the traffic lights at and between Lancaster Avenue and Waggoner Road will not be affected.
Although Main Street is a part of the U.S. 40 highway, the Ohio Department of Transportation allows cities to reduce the speed limit to 25 miles per hour within business districts and 35 miles per hour within urban districts, Sampson said.
The construction project will include adding about 3,350 linear feet of a new 12-inch diameter water main. This water main will replace an aging and under-sized cast iron pipe from Lancaster Avenue to Waggoner Road that is nearly 80 years old.
The city plans lane closures on Main Street throughout the duration of the project, though access to the roadway will continue, Sampson said. The city will provide traffic pattern updates on the city’s website, ci.reynoldsburg.oh.us, throughout the course of construction.
The water main replacement is just one of several infrastructure improvements planned this summer, including sanitary sewer rehabilitation work and storm sewer replacement.
