Saturday, July 1st, 2006
Motorists advised to avoid Touvelle Street
By Timothy Cox
The massive $1.2 million project to rebuild Touvelle Street begins next week, and Celina city officials are warning residents that access to the street will be heavily restricted or closed for the next several months.
"It's going to be a very busy place down there for a long time," city consultant Kent Bryan said.
Nearly all the homes along the stretch of Touvelle Street between Main and Summit streets have off-street access to their properties, generally through alleys in the rear. All other motorists are urged to avoid the construction area.
Crews from Tumbusch Construction, St. Henry, plan to attack the job in two phases, so only half the street initially will be affected. Beginning Wednesday, the eastern half of the street between Main and Mackinaw streets will be closed, and crews immediately will begin milling the old road surface away. Work along that stretch will last about two months.
About Sept. 1 or so, the focus will switch to the western half of the street between Mackinaw and Summit streets.
The project includes complete reconstruction of the road surface and all curbs, gutters and sidewalks. A water main underneath the street also is being replaced.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is covering 80 percent of the costs of the street portion of the work. The city also secured Ohio Public Works Commission funding and committed some local money to the project.
Work is expected to wrap up late this fall. If work is slowed by weather or other delays, it could be until next spring before the final coat of asphalt is laid, city officials have said.
The millings from the old pavement will be kept and stored at the old tennis courts at Eastview Park. City workers then will use the ground-up material to form the base of a new path through the woods in the park, Bryan said.
