MOUNT VERNON — The street department recently filled a handful of potholes around the city with temporary patching material. Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis is encouraging city residents to contact the department if they have information on potholes around town.
The mayor said cold mix provides a temporary solution to potholes, and is often beat out rather quickly and needs to be repatched. Hot mix material, which provides a more durable patch, should be available by late spring. The potholes recently patched with cold mix were on Vernonview Drive, near the intersection with Coshocton Avenue; Mansfield Avenue near Five Points; and Chestnut Street between Main and Mulberry streets.
There are no plans to patch any potholes this coming week, but Mavis said the street department relies on input from residents. Oftentimes, he said, potholes can be overlooked if they are not reported. City residents who wish to report a pothole can contact the department at 393-9501.
Mavis also spoke about recent efforts to get the necessary people and equipment to move a historic bridge located outside of Bladensburg to Mount Vernon. The bridge spans Wakatomika Creek. He said he is working to assemble a team with members of the local business community and individuals with experience in similar projects, adding that recent media attention of the city’s plans to move the bridge has generated a considerable amount of interest in the community.
Ultimately, the bow string truss bridge will be incorporated into the trail system at Foundation Park. The mayor said one person who has offered to act as an advisor engineered the recent relocation of a bowstring truss bridge in Licking County. That particular bridge is now part of the bike trail on the Ohio State University campus in Newark.
Mavis said time is short, because the western abuttment at the bridge at Wakatomika Creek is not stable. There is a danger that if the bridge isn’t moved soon, it could fall into the creek. He said he noticed the abuttment had moved a little since his previous visit a few weeks before.
In other city news, the mayor said:
•The administration plans to move ahead with a number of projects in 2008, including the installation of new traffic signal at the intersection of Newark Road and Blackjack Road. This project should start around the beginning of the summer. An estimated $1.3 million project to pave South Gay Street — currently a brick street — should get under way late this summer or early fall. Construction on a new road that will cut along the western edge of the Lowe’s and Ohio Heritage Bank properties and connect Coshocton Avenue and Yauger Road should begin late summer or early fall as well. The administration has already requested proposals from design firms for the crossover road and the Gay Street project.
•Representatives from the Mount Vernon Baseball Association will again speak before City Council on Jan. 28 about their proposal to build a complex on a portion of city-owned lands west of the water plant. The mayor said the city owns 33 undeveloped acres in the area and city officials have plans to build one or possibly two buildings for the street department and the water and wastewater departments in the same general location.
•Of all the brick streets in the city, Curtis Street, between Mansfield Avenue and Mulberry Street, is the worst. This is the opinion of administration officials who have been giving priority for brick street improvement projects later this year. The determination is based not only its poor condition but the high volume of traffic there. Mavis said this stretch of street, as well as its sidewalks, will be completely restored, not just repaired. There are other brick streets in poor condition as well, and many of these will be targeted for future repairs. City officials have plans to use temporary workers to help in brick street repairs this summer.