Under Construction: Arlington Avenue to be repaired by June

Cameron Fisk

Construction on Arlington Avenue began about 2 weeks ago and is scheduled to continue until the end of June. The changes planned are a new water line and a newly paved road.

The Arlington Avenue construction by the University of Toledo Health Science Campus, which started about two weeks ago, is scheduled to continue until late June of this year.

This is part of a city of Toledo street project, which they hired contractor, Crestline Paving & Excavating Co. Inc. to work on, and the objective is to repair the road that leads to the hospital.

“They knew the road was in bad shape … the people at Health Science Campus have been very patient,” said Doug Collins, the director of grounds and transportation at UT. “It’s been a very bumpy road for the past three to five years.”

According to Collins, this project has three phases.

Phase I:

Having just started construction recently, the plan is still in phase I, and will continue to be for another 2 weeks.

“They’re redoing a water line main that goes from the intersection of Byrne and Arlington towards the East, just shy of the entrance to the hospital,” Collins said.

The water line, which runs beneath the concrete island that split Arlington Avenue, is being replaced. Collins said it did not break, but it was old and the ideal time to fix it was when they were already digging up the road.

Phase II:

Phase II is set to begin March 15, and will mark the beginning of actual road repair.

“During phase II, the south half of the road will be completely closed and one lane of traffic in each direction will be maintained on the north half of the road,” Collins said.

At this time, the city of Toledo will also be paving a new bike path that will run from Detroit Avenue to Byrne Road, according to Collins. Some entrances to the Health Science campus will be temporarily closed on various weekends throughout phase II.

All construction in this phase is expected to be finished in 6-7 weeks.

Phase III:

The last portion of this project is scheduled to begin May 2.

Collins said traffic will be switched so the north half of the road will be closed and commuters will drive on the newly-finished south half which will allow the north half of the road to be closed and paved.