Mayor Joe St. John said Sunbury will invest more than $13,000,000 in four core downtown projects intended to improve safety, transportation, recreation and infrastructure within a half mile of the town square.

The projects, St. John said, include stabilizing and reopening Walnut Street, developing a permeable-paver parking lot on Columbus Street, renovating JR Smith Park, and making major safety and trail-completion improvements along 1,500 feet of East Granville Street including a pedestrian bridge to complete the Ohio To Erie Trail.

St. John said about $7 million of the $13,000,000 total is funded through state and federal grants, allowing the city to leverage outside resources. He named a $520,000 grant from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and FEMA for the Walnut Street stabilization project and noted a $500,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to support JR Smith Park upgrades.

Walnut Street: Erosion along Big Walnut Creek had compromised the embankment and forced the roadway’s closure north of the Ohio To Erie Trail. The mayor said the $520,000 grant will stabilize the embankment, realign the roadway and reopen Walnut Street; work was said to begin this week with an expectation to reopen the road by summer.

Columbus Street parking lot: The site, previously a residence and auto body shop, was purchased by the city two years ago with partial county demo grant assistance. The city will install permeable pavers and engineered landscaping to manage stormwater without the higher stormwater infrastructure costs that an asphalt lot would have required, St. John said.

JR Smith Park: The project will renovate the park a block from the town square, adding a splash pad, pavilion and restrooms, an inclusive playground, pickleball courts and bike trails that will connect to the Ohio To Erie Trail. St. John said the next steps are finalizing full park design this year with construction expected to begin in late 2025.

East Granville Street: The mayor described an $8,000,000 project to improve safety and connectivity along 1,500 feet of roadway, including replacing train bridge abutments, adding 12-foot vehicular lanes, shoulders, gutters, multiuse trail, sidewalks and a pedestrian bridge that will complete the Ohio To Erie Trail in Sunbury. He said $5.5 million of the $8,000,000 will be funded by state and federal sources, and that public outreach will begin in April with construction not expected to start until summer 2027.

St. John encouraged residents to expect surveying and stakeholder coordination in the months ahead and said the projects were part of a larger ‘Growth Must Pay for Growth’ strategy. He did not present construction contracts or final bid documents in the address.