Youngstown is to spend about $1.3 million to pave parts of 60 streets

By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The city will spend about $1.3 million to pave portions of 60 streets, primarily in neighborhoods, with the work starting June 27.

“It’s going to be busy, but it’s exciting,” said Charles Shasho, deputy director of the city’s public-works department. “A strong infrastructure improves the quality of life in the city.”

The board of control on Thursday hired RT Vernal Paving & Excavating of North Lima for $1,315,461.50 for the fourth-straight year to handle the paving. The company’s proposal was the least expensive of four submitted for the work.

The board also hired Thomas Fok & Associates of Austintown for $69,930 to handle the project’s inspection and construction administration.

The portions of 60 streets being paved convert into 23.7 lane miles. A lane mile is 1 mile long and 12 feet wide.

RT Vernal did 23 lane miles last year at a cost of $1,335,516.50.

Streets to be paved are selected based on the amount of vehicular travel, the number of residents living there, the condition of the asphalt and the frequency of potholes and cracks, Shasho said.

“We have many streets in need of paving,” he said. “We’d all like to do three times the amount,” but can’t because of the cost.

The paving expense is primarily taken from the city’s federal Community Development Block Grant and its motor-vehicle license-tax fund, Shasho said.

The city will use water and wastewater funds on portions of four streets – Nadyne Drive, Meredyth Lane, North Bon Air Avenue and Cherry Hill Avenue – because water- and sewer lines there are being replaced, he said.

The work is to start June 27 and is expected to be done in mid-September, he said.

The city has spent between $1.17 million and $1.42 million for its neighborhood paving program since 2010 for 21 to 27 lane miles. The cost is largely based on the cost of asphalt. When asphalt is more expensive, fewer roads are paved, Shasho said.

There could be fewer roads paved next year with the city potentially using a few hundred thousand dollars from the paving program for improvements to sidewalks and devil strips, he said.