Water main project on Substation Road to cause single lane closures

BRUNSWICK HILLS TWP. — Substation Road in Brunswick Hills Township will soon have single-lane closures as water mains are installed. Chad Stima, a design engineer from the Medina County Sanitary Engineering Department, said the project involves installing a booster pump station at the existing tower nearby. "It just increases your pressure," he said. "It takes the water from the tower, and there's pumps inside this booster station that increase the pressure." About 3,600 feet of both 16-inch low-pressure water main and 16-inch high-pressure water main will also be installed on Substation Road, Stima said. "This also gives us an opportunity to replace the existing 16-inch concrete water main at the intersection of Substation Road and state Route 303," he said. "Those concrete water mains are difficult to repair, so it gives us an opportunity to get those out of there." On Feb. 13, the Medina County commissioners awarded the bid for the project to Fechko Excavating LLC for approximately $2.5 million. Stima said it is funded by the county. "The current residents have had low water pressure for quite some time," he said. "The purpose of the project would be to increase the water pressure for these residents within the tower district." The contractor is set to start working on Monday, Stima said. Construction will take place on Substation Road between Laurel Road and state Route 303. Work will start just north of Laurel Road and continue north until reaching Center Road. Traffic will be reduced to one lane from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays throughout the closure. The detour involves traveling east on Laurel Road to north on Pearl Road to west on Grafton Road to Substation Road and reverse. From a contract standpoint, the contractor has to install the water main by Aug. 30, complete pavement repairs by Sept. 30 and finish the booster station by March 2025, Stima said. "That could be sooner," he said. "It just depends on what they run into out in the field." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.