ODOT Delay in paving Route 170 has village officials asking, 'Why?'

The mayor said gravel truck traffic is causing major stress to the road.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- Village officials want to know why the state has pushed paving of state Route 170 back to 2009.
Police Chief Bill Morvay reported to village council Monday that state officials informed him the project, which was to have been done this year, has been postponed.
Mayor Robert Carson said the village can't wait that long and said he will try to get an Ohio Department of Transportation official to talk to council.
Council Member William Douglas said the state did some patching of the road this summer but added it was not enough to keep it in good shape until 2009.
He added ODOT should explain why it repaved Calla Road this summer, a road which was in better shape than Route 170.
After the meeting, Carson said that a major stress on the road is trucks that haul more than 1,000 loads of gravel daily out of nearby Petersburg, where the number of gravel pits has grown significantly in the last 10 years. This means hundreds of trucks haul gravel through the village every day, with trucks weighing up to the 80,000-pound state highway load limit, the mayor added.
Other action
Also Monday, Carson announced that Sandy Drive and Sandy Court will be added to the list of roads scheduled for repaving next year because of their condition.
Council also authorized up to $2,000 to be spent on Christmas lights to decorate the village.
Lawmakers also declared some fire department air packs as surplus because they have purchased new ones. The declaration allows the old air packs to be sold.