Despite fears about the structural integrity of the steam tunnel beneath Mulberry Street, city officials have opened the road to light vehicle traffic until repairs can be made.
But the Athens Public Transit bus stop will remain on President Street — for now.
Any vehicle under 20 tons is allowed to use the street until Ohio Univeristy repairs the tunnel, which it plans to do this summer, according to a release from Ron Lucas, the city's deputy service-safety director.
Though the university has been conducting tests on the structural integrity of the utility tunnel, they ahve not commented on the street's reopening as of press time.
"More information regarding the utility tunnel repair schedule will be released at a later date," Lucas said in the release.
The OU Board of trustees allocated $2 million to repair the tunnel from university reserves, but Stephen Golding, vice president for Finance and Administration, said in a previous Post article he doesn’t expect to need the full amount.
All of the five to six miles worth of steam tunnel OU has will be assessed this summer, Harry Wyatt, associate vice president of architecture, design and construction said in a previous Post article.
The issues with the steam tunnel under Mulberry Street are similar to those that plagued University Terrace earlier this year when issues with the steam tunnel
caused portions of the street to close temporarily.
“The walls and the floor are in decent shape but the roof is failing,” Andy Stone, city engineer and director of Public Works, said in a previous Post article.
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