Photo by Heidi Zemach
Both sides of Clarion Street from Kane Street to the intersection at Marvin Street will have new sidewalks with streetlights. Note the man walking in the road along in the distance.

Streetscape in downtown Wilcox set to take on a whole new look. 

By Heidi Zemach

Special to The Ridgway Record

WILCOX – Heavy construction will take place in Jones Township along State Route 219 beginning on April 6 as a major new improvement project gets underway.
The “Streetscape Project,” will bring broad new 5-foot sidewalks and 10 Victorian–style pole street lights to the downtown area. Construction is scheduled to last through August.
The township applied for federal transportation enhancement funds four years ago, explained Laurie Storrar, the Jones Township secretary and supervisor. Early plans, developed in 2005, had included benches, trees and a kiosk along with the sidewalks. But these ideas have since been scrapped and the size and scope of the entire project has been greatly scaled back due to the escalating price of construction costs in the intervening years, Storrar said.
The $488,000 Streetscape Improvement Project will pay for new sidewalks to be created along one side of Marvin Street, from the new library building at the blinker light intersection along state Route 219 to Finn’s restaurant, from the post office building to Peterson’s Studio on the opposite side, on both sides of Clarion Street, from Kane Street to Marvin Street and on one side of Buchanan and Laurence streets.
Four of the 10 new light poles will be located at each corner of the Marvin Street intersection. The remaining six will run up Clarion Street to Kane Street, with three located on each side of the road. With the additional grant money – including $25,000 in state and $42,000 in Elk County grant  money – the sidewalk along Marvin Street also will be replaced from the intersection toward Old Kane Road, Storrar said.
Marvin Street used to be lined with Elm trees, but due to disease, only one Elm tree remains. That venerable tree, located near the old barber shop, will be left in place, thanks to residents who expressed a desire that it remain. These 10 local residents, who attended a town meeting early on in the planning process, selected somewhat pointy “Victorian” lights with dark aluminum bases and poles over the more rounded “Colonial lights,” Storrar said.
“The sidewalks are going to be a nice improvement to the town,” Storrar said. When the project is completed there will be at least one sidewalk running through all of Wilcox, and people will be able to walk, or children will be able to ride their bikes on a sidewalk to Finn’s Restaurant. The existing sidewalks, built in the early– to mid–1950s when the highway was built, and some sidewalks that are much older, are deteriorating, overtaken by weeds or reclaimed altogether by Mother Nature. Local pedestrians frequently walk in the streets to get places. On one side of Marvin Street, the sidewalk is about too thin for someone to comfortably push a baby stroller along. Planners say making them 5–feet should make walking safer, and be more user–friendly for pedestrians.
Wilcox resident’s reaction ranges from enthusiastic to skeptical.
“I think it’s a great idea, a great improvement,” said Debbie Ferguson, who hopes that more sidewalks, and wider ones will allow her 2–year–old grandchild with MS and her step–daughter to walk around outside more.
“Anything would be an improvement,” said LeRoy Neubert, who is in his mid-60s. “I walk quite a bit, so any sidewalk would help.”
Local employees who walk to work might benefit from having a sidewalk, said Jackie Goodreau, who works at Finn’s restaurant. She can imagine more customers walking there for ice cream at night, and local children being safer when they visit.
But some locals expressed concern privately that with the present economic situation, that now may not be a wise time to be building new sidewalks and erecting fancy streetlamps. They fear that residents will have to pay for the improvements in some way or another. While it is true that the township paid $70,000 from the general fund in original engineering costs years ago, all of the rest of the money for the project is coming from government funds, with no extra cost to township residents Storrar said. The only requirement of township residents for the sidewalks, is an ordinance requiring that people with sidewalks in front of their homes or places of business, shovel the snow off them during the winter months.
HRI Incorporated, of State College, won the contract bid out for the project. Construction will begin at Finn’s, and then gradually head downtown along state Route 219 in segments of about several hundred feet at a time, said Project Manager Jim Fagley, with Engineering Architecture and Design Services (EADS) Group. The excavation will take place, and new concrete poured before the construction moves further up the street, minimizing inconvenience to pedestrians or traffic flow, Fagley said.
The main idea of the Streetscape Project, is to make Wilcox a more walkable community, to help improve the safety for pedestrians of all ages, including school–age children who catch the bus along state Route 219, and to help restore the small–town character of the community, said Tracy Frampton, a marketer for EADS.