Pitiful Paving Progress – City Engineer Says It Will Take 37 Years To Resurface Roads
Portsmouth City Engineer, Nathan Prosch, said only two miles of the city’s 98 miles of streets will be resurfaced this year. He said progress at this rate is too slow. “If you look at the math, to do the whole 80 miles of asphalt, it would take 37 years. Which is pitiful.”
Prosch’s solution is a tax levy for road repair with funds dedicated only to street resurfacing. Portsmouth City Council held a public hearing on the matter on Monday night. Citizens were invited to give comments at a public hearing on the matter, but initially, no one had any to offer.
Prosch explained how he came up with numbers for the proposed levy. “I reached out to the Scioto County Auditor and spoke with the Deputy Auditor and asked about how much a 1 mil levy would generate. It would generate approximately $236, 000.” Prosch said that would be in addition to the $400,000 already allotted with the city’s capital improvement plant budget. He proposed a 1.5 mil levy to generate $350,000 specifically for road resurfacing.
He said he asked for the increase because the city was spending 428,000 this year and only paving a little over 2 miles of streets. “We have 98 miles of streets in town.”
$1 Million for Road Resurfacing
In addition to the additional levy, he also said he wants to use more of the revenue generated by gas taxes. He said if the levy passed, his department was allowed to use more gas tax funds, and the CIP budget increased, his department would have a million dollars to spend on resurfacing roads. “We would actually be able to pave them within 17 years”
Proust said he was hoping for public input at the meeting in order to make the decision between putting a 1 mil or 1.5 mil levy on the ballot. He said, “If we’re not going to get any comments, I’m going to put the 1.5 mil on the ballot in May.”
Public Stays Silent
Councilman Sean Dunne asked Proust if he’d heard from any members of the public about the issue and he said he had not. Prosch said that people complained about roads all of the time, but he hadn’t heard any proposals for specific solutions. “They always say grants,” Proust said. “But that’s really generic. I just don’t think there’s a lot of options for us. We’re supposed to be generating our own money.”
Councilwoman Charlotte Gordon pointed out that the average asphalt life is 8 to 10 years for busy streets and 20 years for less-traveled streets. That would mean that 17 years would be a fairly good timeline for repairing the pavement.
“It would be close,” Proust said. “Our busy streets in town, Chillicothe Street is awful.” He said some of the busier streets would probably get paved twice in 17 years before getting to less-traveled roads.
After Proust finished speaking, Mayor Kevin Johnson once again called for public comments.
Third Ward resident Andy Cole stepped forward and said, “There’s two things that everybody talks about. Guess what one of them is? Our roads. In 3rd Ward, we talk about Coles Blvd where there’s a lot of disruption in the road.” He pointed out that bad roads made a poor visual impression on visitors. “I’m not sure where Portsmouth stands on this issue, but to my perspective, everybody says they want it. You say you want streets. Is it important enough for you to pitch in and be part of the solution?”
Mayor Johnson called for public input three more times, but no citizens spoke. The issue is expected to be on the May 2022 ballot.
