More than $2.2M in road construction set for Springfield this summer

Cars drive around a pothole, several inches deep, along Center Street between Pleasant Street and North Street Friday. Bill Lackey/Staff

Cars drive around a pothole, several inches deep, along Center Street between Pleasant Street and North Street Friday. Bill Lackey/Staff

More than $2.2 million in road construction projects are scheduled be completed this summer as the city of Springfield continues to repair its neighborhood streets.

City commissioners recently approved two road projects and a third to repair other neighborhood streets is expected to be approved Tuesday night.

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Earlier this month they approved a $1 million project for various road projects, including:

• Balsam Drive between Home Road and Carousel Drive.

• Center Street between Pleasant and North streets.

• East Street between Grand Avenue and Rice Street.

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The project will be paid for with about $507,000 in money from the Ohio Public Works Commission, while the remainder will paid for with $507,000 from the city’s Permanent Improvement fund.

The road work is to be completed between Oct. 1 and mid-November, Springfield City Engineer Leo Shanayda said.

“They’re overdue,” Shanayda said. “It’s been 15-plus years since they’ve been touched.”

About $641,000 will be spent to resurface a different portion of East Street, between East High Street and Grand Avenue. The project will be at no cost to the city, Shanayda said. It will be paid for with about $512,000 in money from the Ohio Department of Transportation and another $128,000 from the OPWC.

Thornville, Ohio-based Shelly Co. won the bids for both of the projects.

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A third paving project is expected to be awarded on Tuesday evening, Shanayda said. About $572,000 in paving will be completed with the city’s permanent improvement money, including portions of Miracle Mile, Glendale Avenue and West Lansdowne Avenue. Those streets are expected to be completed later this year, he said.

Next year, the city will spend about $2 million on a neighborhood streets program as part of its commitments from a 5-year income tax increase passed by voters this past spring. The money will be used to fix neighborhood streets that can’t be repaved with federal tax dollars, Shanayda said.

It’s still being discussed which streets will be completed next year, he said. The city will use pavement condition ratings, Shanayda said, as well as mobilization costs. The streets are expected to be spread out between different neighborhoods.

“We’ll try to hit roads in different sectors,” he said.

The city constantly gets calls from residents about the condition of the streets, Shanayda said.

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“Now we can at least tell them now we have some money in which we are going to do some residential roadways, whereas we haven’t done residential roads for a few years, four to five years,” he said. “Now we’re going to be out there doing something with the monies they approved. I’m glad we’re finally moving in that direction.”

This summer, the city also began construction on a center turn lane and bike trail to be added to Villa Road between Derr Road and Red Coach Drive. It will include a new traffic signal, as well as paving from Red Coach Drive to Urbana Road. The project began in early April and is expected to be completed in October.

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By the numbers

$641,000: Cost to resurface East Street between East High Street and Grand Avenue

$572,000: Cost to repave several roads, including portions of Miracle Mile, and Glendale and West Lansdowne avenues

$1 million: For road projects including parts of Balsam Drive, Center and East streets

$2.2 million: Total cost of several road construction projects scheduled for this summer in Springfield

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