STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — There has been a lot of construction happening on Lincoln Avenue in Steubenville, causing a delay in travels. But what exactly is being done and how long will it take place.
The work being done is a part of the west end water system improvement project that has been discussed since late 2018. Recently, this project broke ground and will consist of a new water storage tank, a new pump station, and new waterlines on Lincoln Avenue and County Road 26.
Currently on Lincoln Avenue, crews are replacing the 6- and 8-inch waterlines that are currently laying under the roadway.
“We are installing our 16-inch water line,” Water Superintendent Jim Jenkins explained. “It is roughly 4,000 feet from Tweed Avenue down to the east side of the Norfolk Southern railroad overpass.
This will also be a feed from downtown to our west end once the pump station is built at Tweed Avenue.
Jenkins said crews are averaging the installation of about 100 to 120 feet of new water lines per day and work should be completed by the end of June.
“After the project is completed, anything that was disturbed – the one lane of travel that we are disturbing – we will resurface that as part of a final completion paving project,” Jenkins said.
Once Lincoln Avenue is complete, the work will move to County Road 26 for the installation of 5,000 feet of 12-inch water lines. Then, they will attach it to the west end system.
“County Road 26 will actually be closed during that waterline installation because we have to run it up the middle of the road due to gas lines and other infrastructure in the area,” Jenkins said.
When the work does start on County Road 26, Jenkins said drivers will still be able to use Lincoln and Sinclair avenues.
This part of the project should be completed by early November.
In addition to the waterlines, crews will also install a new 400,000-gallon tank at the end of Lovers Lane and a pump station along Tweed Avenue.
Jenkins said both should be complete by the summer of 2025.
With all the work happening, Jenkins is asking for patience as crews are doing their best to keep traffic moving as work is being done.