In order to make sure he is on-hand to field questions, talk with stakeholders, and, later, to oversee the work, the superintendent for the general contractor is going to be setting up shop next door.

Mike Ley, job superintendent for Bob Cummins Construction of Bradford, spent some time in his temporary office within the Times Observer building at 205 Pennsylvania Avenue on Thursday.

He will be there off and on for the next few months.

“I’ll come on board full-time here on March 17,” Ley said.

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Mike Ley, job superintendent for the downtown Warren roundabout project working for general contractor Bob Cummins Construction of Bradford, checks the plans at his temporary office inside the Times Observer building at 205 Pennsylvania Avenue West.

The location is key. “I’ll be out (at the construction site) every day,” he said.

He will also be visiting the properties and the people in the construction area. Part of Ley’s job is communications.

“I’m going to be managing the project day-to-day, coordinating with the subcontractors, coordinating with PennDOT, and with the stakeholders,” he said. “To keep the stakeholders informed is going to be a big part of this project.”

“I just started going around and introducing myself to some of the businesses,” he said. “I plan to make my way around to all the businesses that will be impacted.”

Most of the property impacts are minor. The most significant impact, according to the plans, is that CVS will lose eight of its current parking spaces, Ley said.

He can’t help those who would like to see an alternative to a roundabout at the intersection.

“I don’t get to pick and choose what PennDOT does,” Ley said. “I just have to build it as expeditiously as possible and try to minimize the impact on the stakeholders.”

Technically, PennDOT didn’t pick the project.

The roundabout idea for the location dates to a city request in 2015.

The city was given two options for improving the intersection – a roundabout and improving the intersection while maintaining the traffic signal.

The roundabout was approved by City Council in 2018 and has been the subject of much consternation at council meetings since. Multiple attempts have been made to overturn the initial decision, all of which have failed.

With the planning, and the attempts to change the plans, in the past, the project is slated to start in April and be complete by the end of July, Ley said.

The work is going to be broken into three phases and there will be different traffic-patterns during each phase. Alert signs will be posted two weeks in advance of the changes to traffic patterns.

“The idea is to go into one area, set up the traffic control, and finish that area completely,” Ley said.

Access to individual businesses and homes will be maintained through the phases, he said. “All of our construction and excavation work requires us to maintain at least one access to every business.”

Access to driveways in the construction area will be limited for short times during paving.

During the first phase, work will focus on the southern half of the intersection. “Pennsylvania Avenue will be one-way westbound,” he said, “and half of a block of Market” from the intersection to the Little Caesar’s driveway will be closed. Access to businesses farther down the southern end of Market Street will be from East Street to the east and Clark Street to the west.

During the second phase, “Market will be open in both directions. Water Street will be open.”

Pennsylvania Avenue east of the intersection will be open both ways. To the west, the Avenue will be open only to eastbound traffic.

“Phase three is the quadrant over by CVS,” Ley said.

By then, about three-quarters of the roundabout will be in position. Motorists will not be able to enter from the east nor exit to the north, but all other entry and exit options will be open.

Ley said he has heard there is opposition to the roundabout, but he is confident most of those people will come around.

“Once people get used to it, traffic will flow a lot better,” he said.