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Struthers makes goal to repave six roads next summer
STRUTHERS
A lot of city streets need to be repaved in the next couple of years, says a consulting firm Struthers hired for an update.
According to a roadway condition-rating analysis from MS Consultants of Youngstown, 44 of 142 city streets will need to be repaved in the next year. The analysis also reported that an additional 34 streets will need to be resurfaced by the end of 2017.
Mayor Terry Stocker said it costs about $150,000 to repave 1 mile of street. Because of the cost, he said it’s not feasible for the city to repave more than 70 of its streets by the end of 2017.
Gary Diorio, an engineer with MS Consultants, helped to develop the analysis. He said it would cost Struthers “several million dollars” to complete all the roads they want to fix.
Stocker said though the city might not be able to resurface its list of 70-plus streets in the three-year time frame, the analysis helped the city determine which streets to tackle first.
Stocker said he hopes to repave six streets next summer — East Wilson and Geneva avenues and Garfield, Eighth, Sexton and Omar streets.
He said 69 percent of the resurfacing will be funded by a $318,784 property-tax levy that was approved May 6. He said he applied for a grant through the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to fund the other 31 percent.
He said he has yet to hear from Eastgate as to whether Struthers was awarded that money.
“Without grant money, we likely can’t get all the roads done,” Stocker said.
Stocker said it’s been two years since the city repaved any of its roads. He said the city has experienced a “lack of financial resources” to complete road projects.
“The cost to resurface roads goes up and up each year because the cost of asphalt goes up and up each year,” Diorio said. “And cities tend to have less and less money available for road projects.”
Ed Wildes, city safety-service director, said harsh winters cause the biggest cracks in the road. Because Struthers hasn’t been able to repave roads in a few years, he said it’s important for the street department to use sealant on problem streets.
“With winter, we’ll simply have to plow and salt constantly to try to keep the roads dry so water doesn’t seep in the roads, causing cracks,” Wildes said. “Our overall goal is to continue patching the streets with crack sealant until we start to get the money in to repave them.”