Bridge Construction Reroutes Buses, College Students

As work on the project continues, another school year is about to begin.

The $23 million project, expected to be finished by the end of 2012, has closed large portions of Crain Avenue and North Water Street — both cut-throughs to the university for people coming from the north on S.R. 43. While detours may force changes to many residents' personal driving habits, they aren't expected to affect students.

Emily Vincent, a spokeswoman for Kent State University, said new students going to the university this fall received written instructions about the construction project before attending Destination Kent State, the university's orientation program.

However, the university does not direct students to use the Crain Avenue Bridge.

"The Kent State signage along S.R. 43 directs people to use S.R. 59," Vincent said. "In addition to the permanent Kent State signage, there are the temporary detour signs for the university that also direct visitors to Kent State to proceed straight on S.R. 43 to S.R. 59.

"For new or prospective students and their parents who head into Kent this way, we have alerted them that there is some construction in the area and advised them to follow the Kent State directional signage to campus," Vincent said.
 
The university encourages returning students to also use the suggested route of S.R. 43, or North Mantua Street, to S.R. 59 and then head east toward campus.

The construction also is expected to have a minimal effect on buses for the Kent City Schools.

The department runs 27 buses throughout the school year, transporting about 3,000 students to the district's school buildings.

Jim Soyars, director of business services for , said although some routes saw minor changes as they transported students to the  and , "Communication with the has been great. We get updates all the time, anytime they're doing anything that may affect our routes."

Buses will roll when classes begin Wednesday, Aug. 24, Soyars said. He expects the construction to continue to be only a "minor inconvenience" during the 2011-2012 school year.

He anticipates few route changes, if any, probably similar to those that occurred during the spring and summer for about a week. During that time, when the , buses used Harvey, Willson and Willow streets to get from Lake to Main street.

Portage County Solid Waste Management District Director William Steiner echoed Soyars' confidence in the city's communication.

"The city of Kent does an excellent job of notifying us, in advance, of (any construction changes) so we have enough time to plan ahead," Steiner said. Thus far, the Waste Management District has not had to reroute any of its trucks because of the construction, he said.

"The only thing we may have had to do is have our (workers) walk down the street to pick up the bins," Steiner said.

Marketing, Civil Rights, and Customer Service Director Frank Hairston said the county bus service will continue to make adjustments in its routing as necessary, although few changes have been necessary since construction began on the project two years ago.

"We're just hopeful and thankful that this bridge will be completed," Hairston said. The Suburban route services high school students along Lake Street, he added.