Lebanon engineering updates: lighting audit complete, Witt Road progress, Noble Street shifted to avoid poles

Kevin Krolick presented engineering department project updates to the Board of Public Works and Safety.

Krolick said ESG will present a citywide lighting audit and data report at the city council meeting; after council questions and answers, city staff plan to move lighting projects into construction.

Grant Street Phase 2 remains scheduled to begin in April; staff are coordinating with New Jack North Mechanical on use of their gravel parking lot and are rescheduling a previously canceled coordination meeting.

The city is working with consultant Versus on scope and services for design of Elm Swamp Road and trail expansion near Elizaville, including a modest roadway widening and drainage fixes; Krolick said he expects to present a scope of work at the next board meeting.

On the Witt Road project Krolick reported right-of-way progress: 24 of the 32 parcels required for the project have been cleared and three additional parcels were secured since the last meeting. He said two of the newly secured parcels had claims on that night’s city council agenda and that staff pushed the project letting to October to allow extra time for final right-of-way acquisitions and to coordinate water needs with Lebanon Utilities; construction remains scheduled for 2027.

Krolick described a coordination effort with Duke Energy on Noble Street, where large steel utility poles run along the north side of the road. To achieve required safety clearances, engineering proposes shifting the road about 5 feet to the south and consolidating pedestrian infrastructure to a single, wider 6-foot sidewalk on the south side rather than narrow sidewalks on both sides.