Jeff Hill due to get back vehicle traffic

The city of Athens and OU are partners in the construction project that has been in progress this summer. Jeff is short for Jefferson, which refers to the large OU residence hall at the bottom of the hill. The street was shut down to vehicular traffic in 2002 after pipes underneath it burst. In the ongoing project, the hill is being paved and will reopen for one-way uphill motor vehicle traffic.

Andy Stone, city director of engineering and public works, said Tuesday that the hill's roadway is expected to reopen in early September.

"I just think this is a great example of cooperation between the university and the city," he said. "So often, I think, we hear about conflict when in reality day-in, day-out we work together very closely on a lot of different things."

Stone said that the university has the intention with the project to expand its chilled-water system. In the project, OU is adding a chilled-water line, while the city is handling water, sewer and the street.

The expanded chilled-water lines will provide central cooling to more OU buildings, Stone explained.

"The thought was that it would save the university money and energy use if they can get central cooling to these buildings as opposed to using individual air conditioners," he said.

For the project, the city received a $224,000 Ohio Public Works Commission grant, which offset the $305,000 total construction cost.

Stone said that the project was set up with a three-party contract, meaning that both OU and the city are joint owners.

"We split the costs between the two entities," he said. "So some of the construction the city pays the contractor for, and some of the construction the university pays the contractor for."

Stone said that the contractor is pushing hard to meet a Sept. 1 expected completion date.

With the road being open only to one-way traffic, Stone said, the city decided to put in a new bike lane on the north side of the road.

"So this will be another example of a road with a bike lane in Athens," he said. "This will give (cyclists) some protective space to get up the hill."

The city announced on Tuesday that in order to complete the installation of the chilled waterline on East Union Street (Jeff Hill), York Paving Company will be working on the intersection of East Union Street and University Terrace today.

While the intersection will be open to flagged traffic, the release said to expect delays.

Questions may be directed to Engineering and Public Works at 740-593-7636.