Painesville Announces 2019-2023 Road Plan
Painesville has announced its new five-year plan, for the years 2019-2023, for road infrastructure improvement in the city. The plan sees the city investing almost $16 million in road projects through 2023, continuing on the momentum of the 2014-2018 road plan which saw $8.2 million in road project investments. Painesville City’s road issues have been a high priority for city council since the first five-year road levy was passed in 2013 and renewed again in 2017.
“The community has made it clear that roads are the most important issue in the city and we are dedicating as many resources as possible to improving road infrastructure,” said Painesville City Council President Paul Hach.
To determine which roads would be resurfaced in the coming five years, the city’s engineering department started with data collection to determine the status of all city roads. Each street was inspected and ranked using ODOT standards. Once a list of roads ranked from worst to best condition was produced, the other infrastructures involved, such as water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer, were evaluated.
Next, the city evaluated available funding through local sources, including the 2017 road levy, the general capital fund, the water capital fund, the sewer capital fund and Level 2 storm water fees. In addition, the city looked to regional, state and federal grant and loan opportunities to assist the projects.
The final decision of which roads would be part of the plan was made by combining the engineering department’s ranked road list with the available grant funding opportunities in order to create the most fiscally responsible plan for improvements.
“We want to work smarter not harder,” said Painesville City Manager Monica Irelan. “We looked at the whole picture when deciding what roads would be resurfaced. It doesn’t make sense to resurface a road just to rip it out the following year to replace the water lines. We took a look at all factors involved and tried to make the most logical decisions.”
A list of streets that are part of the 2019-2023 road plan are listed below. While the first three years of the plan are very likely to occur as written, the fourth and fifth year reflect an educated guess of where the community, state and country will be. The plan’s success is based solely on the ability to fund the projects.
2019: Button Avenue and W Jackson Street (Richmond Street to Painesville City limit past Shamrock Boulevard, a $1.5 million project)
2020: Cedarbrook Drive (Southington Boulevard to Monroe Boulevard), Riverside Drive (in conjunction with the county), Sanford Street (Richmond Street to Skinner Avenue), Skinner Avenue ($1.5 million project) and Watson Street
2021: E Washington Street, Newell Street (Jackson Street to railroad, in conjunction with the county), N State Street (Chester Street to Skinner Avenue) and S St. Clair Street (High Street to Washington Street)
2022: Chestnut Street, Hayer Drive, Latimore/Mill Street, Magnolia Drive, Oak Street, Reed Avenue and Stonehaven Drive
2023: Roosevelt Drive, Sanford Street (Taylor Place to St Clair Street) and W Eagle Street ($1.5 million project)
Roads replaced in the 2014-2018 road plan: Belmont Drive, Courtland Street, E Prospect Street, Elm Street, Erie Street, Fern Drive, Gillett Street, Hillside Drive, Hine Avenue, Levan Drive, Lexington Avenue, Lusard Street, Marion Avenue, Richmond Street, Rockwood Drive, N State Street, Parmly Place, Pearl Street, Stage Avenue, Transit Street, W Walnut Street, W Washington Street, Williams Street and Wood Street
“This comprehensive plan could not have been completed without the renewal of the road levy in 2017,” added Irelan. “City Council and staff are incredibly grateful to the residents for entrusting us with funds to fix the roads. Our goal is to get to every street in the city, but it is going to take time.”
Road conditions have been a problem for Painesville City over the past decade. Between 2009 and 2013, the city was only able to dedicate $1.9 million in total road repairs, or an average of $393,000 per year. Because of this low investment, road infrastructure became weak and many roads fell into disrepair. In 2013, the residents of Painesville passed a five-year levy which helped Painesville City to complete $8.2 million in road projects throughout 2014-2018, a 316 percent increase in road investment. Painesville residents renewed the new five-year road levy in November 2017.
