Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck knows the roads need work after the city went from 2009-18 without dedicated road funding. Playing catch-up won’t happen overnight, and it’s difficult when so many roads need help at once.
“What people hopefully are seeing is that we are committed, that we are working to [fix the roads],” Heck said. “If I could snap my fingers and pave every roadway all in one fell swoop, I would love to do that. We just, financially, no community can do that. ... We’re going to keep tackling it bit by bit.””
2025 plan, funding issues
Heck said since 2018 when city residents approved a tax levy, the city has repaved more than 100 roadways, with 83 being residential streets. Roads typically have a 10-15 year lifespan before they need to be repaved or in more serious cases, reconstructed.
The city’s minimum goal is to spend $2 million per year on road improvement, Heck said.
But this year is an example of the good news-bad news of trying to catch up on road paving.
The good news is the city has over $10 million for roadwork in 2025, with a big chunk coming from the state. In addition to some residential streets, roads to be paved include the part of Villa Road from Middle Urbana Road to Derr Road; Bechtle Avenue from the railroad tracks to West First Street; and South Limestone from Singer Street to Leffel Lane.
The bad news is, those are only partial stretches — one mile of Villa Road, a half-mile of Bechtle, and just over a half-mile of Limestone — while other parts of those streets, and other needy roads like High Street and Main Street continue to wait.
The city prioritizes roads based on multiple factors including what roads need water and sewer work, what roads have upcoming Columbia Gas pipe replacement projects, as well as the Transportation Coordinating Committee’s pavement condition rating of the roads, Heck said.
Heck said the city also has a small, in-house paver for smaller jobs that can contribute to improvement on lesser traveled roads.
It will take years to “catch up” to the backlog of roads, Heck said, and by the time the city does, roads that were first on the list will need work again.
How to report potholes
The city constantly patches potholes, Heck said, and encouraged residents to call the city service department at 937-525-5800 if they spot a pothole, which will typically be filled within 24 hours, Heck said.
“I always emphasize, whether a pothole, a code enforcement violation, anything — don’t assume somebody else is seeing that. Don’t assume somebody from the city is aware of it. Let us know,” Heck said.
The city relies on state and federal funds to help pay for work on larger streets, like the South Yellow Springs Street project, which worked out to be more than $6 million per mile, Heck said.
“We would not be able to do that but for federal and state grants to help us,” Heck said.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
The city has to plan ahead for federal funds, as they are allocated years in advance, Heck said. State funds are a bit more flexible, but still require planning and a portion of funds from the city, usually at 20%.
Heck said that the city is responsible for 284 centerline miles of road.
Trash trucks, weather hurt
Unlike some cities, Springfield’s city charter specifies that it cannot charge for trash service, which allows residents to have their choice of haulers, Heck said. This means Springfield has more large trash trucks stopping and starting on city streets than other communities may have, deteriorating roads at a quicker rate.
“People do need to understand the impact of the multiple trash haulers on our roadways; they are not doing our roads any favors,” Heck said.
Ohio’s climate poses a challenge to roadways with constant moisture and temperature fluctuations that southern and western states may not see, Heck said. Cities across the Midwest deal with road damages due to the climate.
“Cracks are the worst thing that can happen to a roadway because as soon as you get a crack, moisture gets in it and that’s what causes the freezing and thaw and the popping, and creating potholes,” Heck said.
The city had previously stopped sealing roads for cracks due to financial constraints, but is now sealing them again.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
The cost of materials has increased exponentially, too, Heck said. He said where the city used to pay about $300,000 for a shave and pave, or $3 million for reconstruction for one mile of roadway, it now pays $500,000 to $600,000 for a shave and pave and $6 million for a mile of reconstruction.
Residents speak out
Beth Johnson, a lifelong Springfield resident, said she has seen the city’s roads deteriorate over the last several years. As a work-from-home employee, one of the worst roads for her is Tibbetts Avenue on the south side.
“We all know funding is not that great, so you can at least fill in the potholes; that would be half the battle right there,” Johnson said.
Tyler Weller, who has lived in the city most of his life, said he sees parts of Springfield many others won’t in his job as a locksmith downtown. This includes alleyways throughout the city he said are in terrible condition. Weller said alleys near his house off of Main Street near Columbia Avenue are particularly bad.
“They’re bad, like it’s almost car-damaging bad,” Weller said.
Weller said he has a friend who works for the city, and if that friend had not come out and patched up an alley his work van needed to access, it would be impossible to drive through.
“It was almost a 4-inch drop off,” Weller said.
Whitney Deans, grew up in Springfield and still works here, but now lives in Urbana. She has noticed problems since at least 2010, particularly with potholes and uneven pavement. She also pointed to rough or raised railroad crossings.
Deans said the city needs to repave residential side streets as well, pointing to potholes on Eastmoor Drive. She’ll be happy to learn that Eastmoor is among several residential streets to be paved this year in an east Springfield area bounded by Burnett Road, Lexington Avenue and the railroad tracks.
The city’s survey found that residents in certain areas were “very dissatisfied” with the condition of streets, pavement and sidewalks, including portions of north, northeast and west Springfield, while the majority of other respondents were “dissatisfied.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
This reporter solicited resident opinions through social media, receiving more than 100 responses, which were overwhelmingly negative opinions on Springfield’s roads.
Harmony-Shellie Campbell said she and her husband purchased a 1994 Chevy Silverado Dually in 2015 that “drove like a Cadillac” in 2015, but after moving back to Springfield in 2017, “it was sounding so rickety that we parked it” within a year of driving through the city.
Sarah Buscemi Gray called all alleys and streets “a hot mess,” and said “most of us have the potholes memorized.”
Jim Davis pointed out the unevenness of manhole covers, and said “most of them are like potholes.”
Several others mentioned Main Street by the water tower as an area in need of work.
“In 2014 [I] bent a rim slowing down to turn at [the] light,” William Marlowe said. “It’s been horribly patched a couple times since then. But still a problem.”
Brinkley Lehmkuhl pointed to Limestone Street southbound between Main and High Streets, saying heat and use have “warped ruts” into the road.
Many complained about the roadwork done at railroad crossings, saying the crossings ended up bumpier than before.
Heck said that railroad companies are responsible for work at these crossings, though the city tries to coordinate with them to have roadwork being done at the same time as crossing work.
Your top priorities
Last fall, the city surveyed Springfield residents on their satisfaction with city services. This is the first story in a series looking deeper at the areas residents said they cared about the most.
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