MOUNT VERNON — Mayor Richard Mavis is considering changing the game plan for a crossover road that will connect Coshocton Avenue to Yauger Road. He says the project is going to happen eventually, it’s only a matter of which alternative they choose.
The mayor said he has been in communication with Knox Community Hospital officials who have agreed to look at preliminary drawings of a proposed roadway that would run between the hospital and the Lowe’s building. According to a preliminary sketch, the new road would start near the hospital’s driveway on Coshocton Avenue and run over to the hospital driveway that intersects Yauger Road, which is known as Hospital Drive. Mavis said the city will have its contract engineer conduct a preliminary study on the new proposal.
The driving force behind the crossover road project is a desire on the part of city officials to relieve traffic congestion in the Coshocton Avenue area, particularly at the intersection of Vernonview Drive and Yauger Road. They had long planned to have the roadway built along the western side of the Lowe’s and Ohio Heritage Bank properties. Mavis said they have not ruled out that possibility at this time and appraisals of the land that would be required will be done on both strips of property.
“We will make the decision that best suits the long-term interests of the community,” he said.
Mavis said the administration has conceded that it will probably be impossible to get the crossover road project under way this year. It will likely begin spring of next year.
“As further development of businesses, health care facilities and residential homes takes place, a traffic signal on Yauger Road will be merited,” he said.
Mavis said it would be better to have the signal in the location where Yauger Road and the hospital meet, because there is already an intersection there. It would probably be a more suitable location than having a traffic signal put near the Ohio Heritage Bank. He said, though he had some difficulties in getting a response to the original proposal from Lowe’s, he was eventually put in contact with a property manager for the company who expressed a willingness to work with the city, if the city were willing to pay them for the property needed for the roadway.
The mayor recently notified a representative from Lowe’s that city officials are exploring the possibility of building the road on hospital property, an alternative that would still oblige the city to acquire a small section of land on the northeast corner of the Lowe’s property.
In other city business, the mayor said:
•He met with EPA and Ohio Department of Development officials at the American National Can site. A representative from a local firm that has expressed interest in redeveloping the property also attended the meeting. They discussed the possibility of obtaining funds through the Clean Ohio program. Mavis said they believe there is merit to the idea that the site could become the new home of an industry engaged in some form of renewable energy or green technology.
•More and more people are visiting the water park as the temperature rises. The number of visitors last Saturday, the day the water park opened for the season, was moderate, around 350. On Sunday, the number rose to about 500. Later in the week, the number rose to well over a thousand visitors a day.
•The mayor is urging drivers to be mindful of the many children on bicycles, since school has let out. He added that people also need to exercise caution behind the wheel because of the increased number of people riding motorcycles and scooters in the city in an attempt to combat rising gas prices.
•Two days of rain this past week delayed the completion of the stormwater project in the area of the Vine Street and Main Street intersection. The project should be completed next week.
