South Lincoln Street will remain closed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day starting Nov. 9 through 20 due to gas line replacements.

Dominion East Ohio Gas is replacing the lines in preparation for the upcoming Summit Street improvment project, said Jim Bowling, the city engineer in the division of engineering.

The current steel gas lines are close to 50 to 100 years old, said Bob Climes, a Kent city engineer, and will be replaced with hard plastic lines.   

Bowling said a detour will be implemented south on Morris Road. Drivers will need to take a right on School Street and a right on South Lincoln Street. The intersection of Summit and Lincoln will remain open.

Although Bowling said he does not expect there to be a significant effect on the traffic on South Lincoln Street, he still suggests the public to leave for their destination earlier than planned.

Frank Frazier, a traffic guard who is outside from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. everyday, controls the stop and go, one-lane traffic on Summit Hill in Kent. B

Often, students driving through the one-lane traffic do not pay enough attention because they are distracted by their phones, which causes more delays, Frazier said.

“We highly recommend everyone to leave five aminutes earlier on your way going to school, to class or going to work,” Bowling said.

The current phase of construction is planned to be finished within the month, but the Summit Street project will not be completed until 2018.

Climes said after this part of the project finishes, one-lane traffic would begin again in April. It is estimated traffic will get worse as the project goes on, he said.

For those who live on School Street or Morris Road, Bowling said they should expect to see an increase in traffic during that period however but it will not be significant.

For questions, contact the Division of Engineering at 330-678-8106. 

Dana Miller and Carson Kleinman are the safety and transportation reporter. Contact Dana at [email protected]. Contact [email protected].