SpringfieldNewsSun.com

A railroad construction project will force the area of Fountain Avenue near the library and performing arts center to close to through traffic next week.

Norfolk Southern will be making basic upgrades to its tracks along the downtown rail and improving its line, City Engineer Leo Shanayda said. Fountain will be closed between High Street and Jefferson Avenue from Monday through Thursday, but traffic will be able to reach the library, the Heritage Center, Clark State Performing Arts Center, The Courtyard by Marriott and Elderly United.

Though the construction will divert traffic in the middle of the holiday shopping season, Shanayda and Samuel Beloff, co-chair of the Downtown Business Alliance, said there is still plenty of access to downtown retailers.

"Just about any downtown business is in the affected area," Beloff said, but added, "if this is the time it has to happen, it has to happen.

"(Construction) is never easy," Beloff said. "The middle of July is always better than the middle of December, but everyone who's a member of the Downtown Business Alliance understands what's happening."

This project is a precursor to the quiet zone project slated to begin next year, which will install low-decibel train whistles, something the local business community has advocated for a while, said Jenny Baader, executive director of the Center City Association.

"They're going to have to do both," he said. "If they do (basic upgrades) now, that's something they won't have to do later."

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0349 or juthompson@coxohio.com