Road construction coming to Bigelow Avenue

Look for orange road construction barrels to start popping up on Bigelow Avenue this spring. Findlay City Council authorized city administrators to apply for a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to resurface Bigelow Avenue at its Sept. 5 regular meeting. The ordinance was approved 10-0. The project would repave Bigelow Avenue, from Main Street to Melrose Avenue, and is expected to cost about $935,720, with the grant paying 80% of the expense. "The city will be receiving the funds from the Ohio Department of Transportation. The funds are through our Large City Funds that we receive yearly from ODOT. These funds are the same ones that we use yearly to resurface ODOT-eligible roadways," said Jeremy Kalb, city engineer. He said other roadways resurfaced with these funds include Bright Road, Broad Avenue, Melrose Avenue, South Main Street and Lima Avenue. "It is a very successful program that Findlay, and other cities, take advantage of so that large roadways like this can be resurfaced. This allows the city to put more funds towards our own annual resurfacing project," he said. The project is expected to be advertised for bidding this winter. Kalb said traffic will be maintained on the busy city thoroughfare during the resurfacing. "Just like what we have done on Bright Road, we will be shutting down one lane in each direction so that crews can perform the work and we can still keep traffic moving through the area," said Kalb. "The traffic will be slower and there will be delays, but we will maintain one lane of traffic in each direction since it is a highly used roadway."