SIDEWALK PROJECT — City Engineer Mike Dolak said a newly authorized sidewalk project will “connect neighborhoods” and make it easier for pedestrians to navigate the downtown area. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — With two more dormitories in the works at Franciscan University’s lower campus, city officials are gearing up for a sidewalk project they say will make it safer for students — and Steubenville residents at large — to travel throughout the city on foot.

The university announced the housing expansion — one for men and the other for women connected by a commons area –in February. Work is expected to get underway in May with the new residence halls expected to open in August 2027.

City Engineer Mike Dolak said the new dorms will provide housing for about 1,000 students at the lower campus and attract another 97,000 visitors to the community.

To accommodate the anticipated increase in foot traffic, Dolak said council is hoping to install sidewalks on Wellesley Avenue from Carnegie to University Boulevard and along University to N. Seventh Street, along with “mid-block pedestrian crossings.”

The project, currently priced in the $1.4 million range, would require federal funding, though a specific source hasn’t been identified. Dolak said they’ll be working through Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission to finalize those details.

“It’s about connectivity, putting walkways in that were not there previously where you see a lot of pedestrians,” he said Wednesday. “It’s connecting communities, from one end of the community to another.”

Earlier this week, council authorized the city manager to move forward with the project.

“We have to go through the design process, then we have to get the project programmed in the federal system because it will be federally funded,” Dolak said. “After we get it programmed, we have to get an engineer to do the design and once that’s done, start the design.”

Dolak said it could be an 80-20 grant opportunity — 80% federal funding with a 20% local match, “or it could be 100% federal.” He pointed out Franciscan University has offered financial assistance to assist with the city’s share of construction costs, if it’s needed.

“Federal money is involved so we have to work through the process,” he added. “I’m hoping to get a design in 2027 and see construction in the summer of 2028.”

Dolak said city officials “looked at other areas” where sidewalks are needed, including from the Lovers Lane roundabout to the mall before settling on the University Boulevard project — in no small part because of the rapid growth happening in the Franciscan Square area. Over the past three decades, university officials previously said Franciscan’s added more than 50 acres and invested about $50 million in the University Boulevard corridor, including the Franciscan Square commercial development.

“This project is about connecting the community, not replacing sidewalks,” he added. “We’re installing sidewalks where there are none. I’d love to replace sidewalks (all through town) but we don’t have the funding. It’s a connectivity project — we’re putting walkways in that were not there previously in areas where you see a lot of pedestrians. It’s connecting (neighborhoods) from one end of the community to another.”