T-L Photo/JOSIE BURKHART Bridgeport Solicitor Michael Shaheen reads an ordinance Tuesday during a regular Bridgeport Village Council meeting.

BRIDGEPORT — Brian May of May engineering brought information to Tuesday evening’s Bridgeport Village Council meeting about a safety project involving a crosswalk on National Road.

In December, a fatal accident took place on U.S. 40 in Bridgeport at the crosswalk. A Wheeling woman, 60-year-old Teri Marshall, died as a result of her injuries after a vehicle struck her and another pedestrian while they were using the crosswalk outside of the police station.

“A 2013 Dodge Durango driven by Denise Borsos of Martins Ferry was attempting to turn east onto U.S. Route 40 from a private lot north of the roadway,” the Ohio State Highway Patrol announced in a release at the time. “Two pedestrians … were attempting to cross U.S. Route 40 from the south side of the roadway to the north side of the roadway.

“As Borsos turned onto U.S. 40, she struck both Marshall and (George) Weekly.”

The deadly crash prompted May to speak with the Ohio Department of Transportation about what could be done about making the area safer.

May met with a representative from ODOT and walked along the street to survey the area and formulate a plan. ODOT has a paving project set to take place this summer on U.S. 40, and May asked if the project could include some sort of safety initiative for Bridgeport.

May is now in the application process, seeking funds for the project. He described the process Tuesday as looking favorable.

ODOT has funds strictly for “safety and improvements” that would allow the village to bring the project to the crosswalk. May wants to reduce accidents by reducing the time that pedestrians spend crossing the road and by alerting motorists at the same time.

He added that the safety of pedestrians is very important on the busy streets of the village.

Meanwhile, council discussed expanding overtime to more than 10 hours for village employees. Currently, village employees cannot exceed 10 hours of overtime. Mayor Norma Teasdale proposed a discussion about raising that number because some employees have been working many hours of overtime recently.

Travis Snodgrass, Public Works superintendent for the water, wastewater and streets departments, has been working a lot of overtime because of waterline breaks in Martins Ferry, Teasdale said. Martins Ferry is directly connected to the Bridgeport water system, so when the Purple City’s waterlines break, Snodgrass is going throughout the village to turn off valves until Martins Ferry gives the notice otherwise during crises.

Council discussed that overtime approvals can go through Teasdale or Village Administrator Jesse Kosegi. Waterline breaks have been a problem in Martins Ferry recently, which is why Teasdale raised the concern. The discussion will continue into the next meeting.

May also discussed reimbursement for the South Lincoln Avenue project. There was a slip in Bridgeport on South Lincoln Avenue that had to be fixed. Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state would cover $1.1 million the village needs to repair the slip, while Ohio Public Works Commission will cover the rest of the cost with the estimated project total being $2.4 million.

Council also entered a closed-door session for legal purposes.