A bumpy ride for those in the burbs, too

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Winter is still here, but pothole season has arrived early.

“The extreme cold weather and the thawing out, and then more extreme cold weather — it’s causing chaos countywide,” said Poland Township Administrator James Scharville. “It’s going to be bad this year.”

The work has just begun for road crews, and some officials say this year’s road conditions could be the worst in recent memory.

The severity of the issue, officials say, is due to the drastic temperature changes.

In Poland village, officials say filling in potholes likely will hurt finances.

“We spent a large amount of our budget last year filling potholes, and I think this year will be as bad or worse,” said Russell Beatty Jr., village police chief and streets commissioner.

Poland Township officials say it might help finances since winter conditions started late this season. Township road crews responded to complaints Tuesday, including on Highland Avenue and Clingan Road.

Clingan is a county road, but a Poland crew worked on it because the township road department deemed it unsafe, Scharville said. North Lima Road, also a county road, is another one Scharville identified as a problem area.

Bill Meeham, Lowellville village administrator, said the situation there is not bad, but certain roads, such as River Road and Wood Street, are in bad condition.

So far, Campbell hasn’t had many potholes, said Judith Clement, director of administration. Last year the city repaved its most-used roadways.

Struthers started filling up potholes Monday, said Mayor Terry Stocker. Some of the worst streets are Wetmore Drive, Midlothian Boulevard and Geneva Avenue, he said.

Austintown Township officials have been getting complaints about New and Turner roads, but since those are county roads, they can’t do anything about them, they said at a trustee meeting Monday.

“If we’re not out doing snow and ice control ... then we’ve got one to three trucks out putting the cold patches in the potholes,” said Mike Dockry, township administrator and road superintendent. The township uses a mixture of slag and rock salt when treating roads.

Keith Rogers, Canfield Township administrator and road superintendent, said the two roads getting the most patches this winter in Canfield are Gibson Road and Starr Centre Drive.

Meanwhile in Canfield city, potholes haven’t been much of a concern so far, said Joe Warino, city manager.

“We’ve had a number of water breaks we’ve had to deal with,” Warino said. “We do anticipate more [potholes] as the winter goes on.”

Warino, Dockry and Rogers all agreed the cost of rock salt will impact how much road paving they will be able to do come warmer weather.

“The cost of salt is going to hurt everyone in terms of paving roads,” Rogers said.

Boardman road Superintendent Larry Wilson said the township is in good shape with its road-salt supply, and when the department is not dealing with snow, crews are out filling potholes. Heavy snow, he said, plays a big role in the severity of potholes since snowplows dig out fill from the holes.

Wilson said the township already has paid for 100 tons of cold mix at a cost of about $5,000. It’s too early to say whether filling potholes will strain the department’s budget, since he doesn’t know if he will have to buy more mix, he said.

In Girard, weather conditions have sped up the deterioration of U.S. Route 422. The city persuaded the Ohio Department of Transportation to resurface the road this year, which will cost about $1.5 million, Mayor James Melfi said. The city will then focus on filling potholes in the neighborhood later this week, he added.

“I like to say the worst is over, but it may not be,” Melfi said.

Many of the roads most affected by weather, and most heavily traveled, are maintained by the Mahoning County Engineer’s Office.

“Pothole repair is a year-round effort, and the department responds to potholes as we are made aware of them,” Engineer Patrick Ginnetti said. “We have already begun across the county and will continue to do repairs as needed.”

Ginnetti said it is too early to compare to last year, or to say how pothole work will impact his department’s budget.