“We are averaging a cost of about $6.6 million per mile,” he indicated, noting that the cost has doubled over the last three to four years.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
City commissioners in February this year approved a $3.5 million Phase 1 for South Yellow Springs reconstruction north of the Phase 2 site, and that work took several months to complete.
Mayor Rob Rue noted that the city didn’t update roads as needed for many years and is now catching up.
Major road repairs were promised to city residents when the city sought a 0.4% income tax levy that was first approved in 2017 and was renewed in 2021. Since then, city officials have dedicated massive expenditures to extensive street reconstruction. Eleven million dollars was spent in 2022 alone to improve 72 neighborhood streets.
The city will also finance a portion of the work through a cooperative agreement with the Ohio Water Development Authority.
The City Services Department collaborates with other providers of critical infrastructure, such as Columbia Gas, so that planned upgrades to their pipelines can be scheduled before street work is completed.
Sometimes that coordination of effort results in delays in completion, but it is an important factor to prevent duplication of effort and additional cost.
City residents are encouraged to use the city’s website or call the City Services office at 937-525-5800 when there are problems with the streets in their neighborhood. That enables minor repairs to be made if needed and an assessment can be completed to determine if more extensive work is required and the road needs to be included in the long-term scheduling as a major project.
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