As the Fairfield/Ewing Corridor improvement project continues next week, motorists will notice several lane restrictions on Ewing, Fairfield, Main, Jefferson and Baker Streets.
Beginning Monday, weather permitting, lane markings will be painted on Main Street between Jackson Street and Maiden Lane. When completed, this section of Main will have one lane of travel in each direction, bike lanes in both directions and a center turn lane, improving safety for bicyclists and motorists.
Permanent lane markings will also be painted next week on Ewing and Fairfield between Main and Superior Circle. Traffic will be maintained on Main, Ewing and Fairfield during the painting, but motorists should expect lane restrictions and delays.
The changes to the Fairfield/Ewing corridor, on the west side of downtown, are addressing changing transportation needs of today. These changes include improving sidewalks and separating pedestrians with park strips, adding bike lanes, moving traffic in both directions on primary roads and adding center turn lanes. This downtown neighborhood, a part of the West Central Neighborhood, continues to see many changes from the Allen County Library entrance moving to Ewing Street; development of Parkview Field, which attracts 500,000 visitors a year; construction of The Harrison residential and retail building; the University of Saint Francis’s plan to bring two degreed programs to the former Scottish Rite and Chamber buildings in 2016 and the addition of the soon-to-be built Cityscape Flats, just south of Jefferson.
Construction will also continue on Jefferson, between Broadway and Ewing, where additional pedestrian space is being added, and on Baker Street, where lane markings, curb, sidewalk and landscaping are under construction.
Multi-Phase Project Details:
· 5-legged intersection of Fairfield/Ewing/Superior/Wells into the Superior Circle roundabout (opened in 2014, landscaping underway)
· Conversion of Fairfield & Ewing Streets from one-way to two-way traffic between Baker Street and Superior Street (completed in 2014)
· Conversion of Main Street to 1 lane in each direction with a center turn-lane and bike lanes (under construction)
· Conversion of Baker Street to two-way and streetscape (two-way completed, streetscape under construction)
· Streetscape on Fairfield and Ewing, including landscaping, lights park strip and bike lanes (this summer between Baker and Jefferson)
· Expanded sidewalk on south side of West Jefferson Blvd between Broadway and Ewing (under construction)
· Streetscape on Fairfield and Ewing, including landscaping, lights park strip and bike lanes (next year between Jefferson and Main)