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Idaho Rd. project awaits approval
By kristine gill
austintown
A $750,000 plan to extend Idaho Road to New Road is awaiting approval of a state grant.
“The question right now is — we’re having second thoughts,” said township Administrator Mike Dockry. “Depending on [Community Development Block Grants] and what we get from them, the board will have to take another look at it.”
The road expansion is part of the $50 million new-schools project for the district that will break ground at 12:30 p.m. May 24.
Dockry said the township should know whether it’s been approved for all or part of a $100,000 CDBG grant in July.
The school district is funding $440,000 of the project using money from the Ohio School Facilities Commission, which provides money for off-site traffic improvements as part of the construction of two new buildings for the district.
The Mahoning County Engineer’s office is paying $10,000 for the project, and Austintown Township trustees are paying $50,100.
Dockry and Superintendent Vince Colaluca are hoping for $100,000 in CDBG dollars. They’ve already received $150,000 from the Ohio Public Works Commission.
But Dockry said he’s more concerned about the effect of Gov. John Kasich’s new budget.
“We’re losing money overall,” he said. “We’re using road or general-fund money for our contribution [to the project] when we can use that money instead for, let’s say, resurfacing — when it looks like right now, we’re going to have a very small resurfacing budget this year and even less next year.”
“It’s up in the air,” Dockry added.
A traffic study conducted by the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission indicated that heavy bus traffic would be a problem with the new buildings.
“The school and myself approached the county engineer about bringing 1,000 more students to campus, and they said the best way to deal with that was to open Idaho Road,” Dockry said.
Mal Culp, supervisor of facilities and operations for Austintown schools, said the original idea also would have connected Rita Avenue and Fitzgerald Avenue to Idaho for about $1 million total.
Expanding the road would involve clearing out a nearby wooded area, installing storm pipes and laying asphalt. At the intersection of New and Idaho roads, crews would install a traffic light.
In March, school board members voted to approve the $30,000 purchase of a vacant lot across the street from Watson Elementary as part of the project.
Some residents worry the increased traffic flow will affect quality of life on the quiet, dead-end street.
“I’ve heard opinions from both sides,” Dockry said.
Christine Wiseman, an Idaho Road resident with children in the district, said she worries that in applying for grants the township is making residents pay for a project they aren’t necessarily in favor of.
“We have many children on Fitzgerald and Idaho, and I am concerned of their safety,” Wiseman added in an email. Colaluca said there will be sidewalks installed as part of that project.
“County engineers will be working with us to make sure the road is safe,” he said, adding that Idaho has long been known as a paper road, one that was planned but never completed and still maintains a legal existence.
“When the properties were purchased, they knew there was a possibility of that road going through,” he said.
Dockry said there are several paper roads in Austintown that haven’t been improved and that the Idaho extension is made possible with money from the school district.