Poland village misses out on repaving

The portion of the road through the village sees heavy truck traffic, officials say.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

POLAND — Work started this week to repave a portion of state Route 170 in the township, but not in the village.

The Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 4 says the road’s condition in the village doesn’t merit repaving.

Earlier this month, village Mayor Christine Yash and Joseph Mazur, council president, wrote a letter to ODOT questioning why that portion of the road isn’t being paved.

“We’re basically talking about the curb lane there from the library to the fire station,” Mazur said. “It’s like a mine field.”

In the letter, the village officials say that they believed the road was to be paved this season upon seeing cross streets posted with construction signs. They later learned that it wasn’t scheduled for paving this year.

Mazur pointed out the village segments of the state route see a lot of heavy truck traffic because of the stone quarries and other industry on the road.

“The huge dump trucks traverse state Route 170 through Poland Township and Poland Village and eventually destroy the roads,” Mazur and Yash wrote.

Route 170 work

Work to repave a piece of Route 170 in the township started this week, snarling traffic as travel reduced to one lane.

The work starts just north of Western Reserve Road and runs to just south of Lee Road. It’s part of a $2.8 million project to resurface portions of the road from the Columbiana County line to Midlothian Boulevard including resurfacing state Route 617 from Route 170 to the Pennsylvania line.

The project is expected to be complete by early October.

Mazur and Yash wonder why the village portion was omitted.

They got a quote of about $21,000 to repave the 880-foot piece between the Poland branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County and the fire station. They want ODOT to help with the cost.

Justin Chesnic, an ODOT District 4 spokesman, said the agency evaluates every lane mile of state road and interstate annually to determine its condition.

Ratings too high

The portions that extend through the village didn’t earn ratings in the range designated as requiring pavement. The threshold is 60 or lower.

The part through the village rated a 67 on one stretch and a 77 on another, Chesnic said.

“The district’s budgetary constraints simply do not allow us the luxury of paving route segments with [condition ratings] in the high sixties or seventies,” according to a letter from ODOT to the village.

The village section is set for repaving in fiscal year 2010. The department can’t participate in funding a locally bid spot paving project, the letter said.

But Chesnic said the agency will investigate using unused materials from the ongoing paving project to make repairs in needed areas in the village.

That’s hopeful news for the village.

“We’re anticipating their cooperation,” Mazur said.