Saturday, May 01, 1999
No more bumping along Grand Avenue
Middletown work winds up
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — Motorists, business people and residents will cheer when the teeth-jarring bumps that have creased Grand Avenue for months are smoothed out this summer.
And businessman Jim Armbruster, owner of Armbruster Florist Inc. on Grand, will lead the celebration.
He said a delay last year in finishing the replacement of a water main under the road, which resulted in orange barrels being up for months, the street being closed for about 30 days off and on, and the resulting damaged surface, cost him a good chunk of business.
“Normally we have to hire several people for seasonal work in the greenhouse,” Mr. Armbruster said. “We actually had to lay people off last summer for the first time in the 19 years that I've owned this place. It's this awful road. It's almost like a training course for testing shock absorbers.”
The repaving of busy Grand Avenue, from Stanley Street east to Roosevelt Boulevard, is part of an estimated $1.4 million Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) project, said Andy Braun, city engineer. The work also includes repaving all of Tytus Avenue, Lefferson Road and Manchester Road and repairing catch basins. Property owners are footing the bills for work being done on curbs, gutters and sidewalks along those streets, he said.
“We did the water main replacement project on Grand last year in anticipation of this repaving project,” Mr. Braun said. The goal was to have the repaving done immediately thereafter, but the contract was not issued in time to get all the work done last year. The entire project, which is 80 percent federal and 20 percent city funded, should be finished by the end of July, he said.
Mr. Armbruster said he's among many who are eagerly awaiting that day, and he hopes the work will be less disruptive to the neighborhood and to his business, the only one in a section of the road with no side-street access.
“Our spring season represents about 60 percent of our total income per year,” said Mr. Armbruster, father of City Commissioner Jim Armbruster II. Mr. Armbruster said the bulk of his florist business is via telephone, but about 98 percent of the greenhouse sales are to people who drive into the business. To get there, they have to risk teeth, and hubcaps, to drive on Grand. Many people are avoiding that road, and he's paying the price in lost sales.
Mr. Braun said several residents and businesses have complained about the damaged roadway, and the city is working to ensure that the work is finished on time with as little inconvenience as possible. He said they have asked the contractor, John R. Jurgensen Co., Sharonville, to delay repaving until June to avoid the busy spring and Memorial Day holiday period.
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