KENT, Ohio — As students move into their dorms this week at Kent State, there's a familiar sight: road construction along East Main Street.
The three-year, $25.5 million road project is entering its second year of work, with completion expected by fall 2028. The project spans three-quarters of a mile and addresses safety issues identified along the corridor.
Work continues on one of two planned roundabouts at Overlook Drive and Willow Street, along with a new median that will divide the north and south sides of East Main Street.
"We're working on phase 1 — we've been working on that since basically last year," Senior City Engineer Jon Giaquinto said. "We're removing everything and replacing everything. That's why it takes so long. This is an old road; there are a lot of things we may not have records of that we run into. There's brick under this road in some portions."
While much of the work has focused on the eastern stretch of the planned project, Giaquinto said he expects the project to shift westward sometime next year, with the full project on track to wrap up by fall 2028.
When it first started, Giaquinto told News 5 the safety case for the work was clear after roughly 243 accidents occurred within a three-year period on this stretch of road.
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RELATED: Kent prepping to overhaul East Main Street with 3-year-long construction project
"We saw a lot of left-turn crashes — we saw a lot of rear-end crashes," Giaquinto said.
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Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
