Thursday, 06 December 2018 10:48

Akron Repaving Project Completed Featured

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The City of Akron says they've finished their road repaving project that was funded by the passage of Issue 1, the quarter-percent income tax increase, voted in by Akron voters back in November of last year.

More than 41 miles of city streets have been repaved over the course of the past year, the majority of which was done on residential streets, according to the city.

See the full press release below: 

(CIty of Akron) The City of Akron has completed the 2018 repaving schedule as projected and on budget. A dedicated stream of funding, which came from the quarter percent income tax increase that was passed by voters in November of 2017, was allotted specifically for roads. As projected, the increased funding allowed the City to repave an additional 37.5 miles of roadway, on top of the 17 miles previously designated in the City budget.

Of the completed work, 41.5 were residential streets and 13 miles were arterial/collector streets. The 2018 repaving work was split approximately evenly among Akron’s 10 wards, and was planned based on both the 2015 State of the Streets study and an annual street survey that determines the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of Akron’s roads.

While the City is pleased with the first year of completed work, there is still much to be done. Mayor Horrigan states, “This is the first year of many that it will take to truly restore Akron’s streets. Years of disinvestment, due to lack of proper revenue, cannot be righted in a single year. But I truly hope Akronites can see a difference in the caliber of the roads so far, and it will only become more apparent as we continue this pace with each repaving season.”

In addition to the streets that were scheduled for repaving in 2018, several streets were improved in conjunction with other projects, such as Aqueduct Street as part of the Green Improvements project, Main Street for the ODOT Main Broadway Interchange project and Cedar and Exchange Streets for the Cedar/Exchange Street safety enhancement project.

The ¼% income tax increase took effect January 1, 2018, and raised approximately $13 million in 2018. These additional funds helped to replace lost revenue from the State of Ohio, and allowed the City to begin making long-awaited and much-needed improvements to the City’s public safety and roadway infrastructure. As promised, Mayor Horrigan will continue to divide these new funds roughly equally between police, fire/EMS, and streets each year.

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