MAHONING VALLEY ROADS AND BRIDGES Local engineers do more with less

Increasing the gas tax or license plate fees are among suggested options for bumping up funding.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A funding crisis has caused Ohio's county engineers to fall behind in their ability to maintain roads and bridges, state officials say.
It will cost $527 million to bring everything up to speed, but no one is sure where the money will come from.
Locally, county engineers say conditions aren't as dire as they are in other parts of the state, though they could always use more money to keep up with the work.
"To say that we have a crisis here, no, I can't say that," said John Latell, Trumbull County engineer. His colleagues in Mahoning and Trumbull counties agreed.
Under Ohio law, county engineers' offices are funded by gasoline tax and license plate fees.
The County Engineers Association of Ohio says funding sources have remained stagnant over the years, while the need to do more maintenance work on roads and bridges has increased.
Factors involved: Routine wear and tear, increasing traffic volumes, freeze-thaw cycles and the use of salt as a de-icing agent have contributed to the deterioration of roads and bridges, said Bert Dawson, Columbiana County engineer.
State safety guidelines suggest that roads should be at least 20 feet wide, though in Ohio only about 31 percent of county roads meet that standard, said Larry Long, president of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.
There are also some 2,300 miles of county-maintained roads that are unpaved, Long said.
"I was surprised by that," he said, noting that most of the unpaved roads are in the part of the state designated as Appalachia, which traditionally has lower revenue with which to work.
Long said bridges are designed to last 50 years, but thousands of bridges in Ohio are well beyond that age. Of the 27,000 bridges maintained by county governments, 11,000 are more than 50 years old, including 5,000 that are more than 80 years old.
One voice: He said the commissioners association is joining with the engineers association to push for improved funding.
"For us, the concerns are all about safety," Long said. The associations have suggested three options for improved funding of road and bridge programs.
First is to increase the gasoline tax from 22 to 25 cents a gallon and earmark the difference for roads and bridges. Each penny increase would generate $58 million to $62 million in revenue, Long said.
The other options are to gradually take gas tax funding away from the Ohio State Highway Patrol and divide it among counties, or to increase license plate and deputy registrar fees, Long said.
"It's just gotten to the point where something has to be done," he said.
The Ohio Legislature would have to approve any changes.
Richard Marsico, Mahoning County engineer, said he believes the gas tax increase would be the fairest way to make up the difference, though he understands no one wants to pay higher prices at the gas pumps.
Staying even: Most of Mahoning County's bridges are in good shape, and an aggressive paving program the past four years has helped keep things from getting out of hand, though Marsico said there are still projects that could be done with more funding.
Latell agreed and said he's tried to keep pace as much as possible over the years.
"But you don't want to wait until the last minute and find yourself in a crisis situation," he said.
Counties are forced to reduce bridge load limits if the spans aren't regularly maintained and repaired, he said.
There are 43 bridges with reduced load limits in Trumbull County. That's 10 percent of all the bridges in the county, but many of the posted bridges are among the county's largest and, therefore, the most expensive to repair, Latell said.
"That's where the money crunch comes in," he said.
Dawson said he believes there is a widespread and legitimate need for improved road and bridge funding across the state but said he can live without it if necessary.
"We've tried to run lean for a long time, and it's paid off," said Dawson, who is in his 33rd year as engineer.
He has managed to stay ahead of the game by taking advantage of state and federal funding programs that other counties miss out on, he said.
"There are other vehicles for funding your projects. You just have to go after them," he said.