If you spend time in your automobile in Cleveland Heights, you may wonder how the city decides which streets to maintain and when. Carl Czaga, assistant to the city manager, capital projects, is responsible for any city project exceeding $25,000. Czaga offers some enlightenment.

Sources of funding
No annual dollars are provided from the general fund budget to maintain our city's 128 road miles. Instead, funds from license plate and vehicle registration fees are designated proportionately by zip code. The amount has been consistent over the years at $1.6 million, but this is expected to drop because of declining population and the number of vacant homes. Funds collected through the state and federal gasoline taxes are allocated by the State of Ohio.

Another source is Community Block Grant funds. A citizens advisory committee reviews all requests for these funds and recommends disbursement through the approval of city council. The capital projects office often bids for some of these funds. If obtained, these funds are restricted to streets located in low- and moderate-income census tracts of the city.

Still another source is the State of Ohio Public Works Fund, through which the state annually makes millions of dollars available for bid by municipalities. The bid process must include all engineering studies and is very competitive.

Major road projects (such as the recent Fairmount Boulevard and Warensville Center Road repavings) are funded by federal, state, and county dollars with the city’s portion normally 10% (sometimes raised by issuing bonds). Government-funded projects take a long time because EPA and engineering studies must be completed before final approval.

A look back
Back in the 1970s and '80s, the chip-and-tar method was used to pave residential streets. More recently, according to Czaga, the city switched to asphalt because of a rise in costs and the cleaner approach of asphalt. The chip-and-tar method allows covering a lot of pavement in a short time, but it can take some weeks for all the loose gravel to bond to the tar. The more time-consuming asphalt method allows repaving only the worst streets, and applying cold patch, or just paving, the curb troughs of selected streets.

Other concerns
Some cities complete a road project city limit to city limit (for example, Lee Road in Cleveland and Shaker Heights). Lee Road in Cleveland Heights was planned as one project, but the plan was altered to accommodate the library renovation. Major streets may be done in segments due to budget constraints or to avoid mass inconvenience to merchants and residents. Few people are aware that a linear foot of curbing costs the same as a linear foot of road; which is why, if the original stone curbing is intact it is not replaced.

In the pipe line
Repaving Taylor Road from Euclid Heights Boulevard to the East Cleveland line is planned for 2009. The concrete section along Severance Town Center will be reduced by one lane on the east side of the road. This will be a "green" project in which the existing concrete will be ground smooth, covered with two layers of membrane material, and topped with a final coat of asphalt. Monticello Boulevard is in the bid process and will be done in three phases beginning with the section from Noble to Taylor. Mayfield Road was on the docket for 2010, but ODOT removed it from the schedule.

Mayfield Road was last repaved in 1979 and 1994. In 1994 the concrete bus pads were added to save on maintenance costs. The jury is still out on how concrete and asphalt mix -concrete wears longer, but it costs more and takes longer to install, causing more traffic disruption.

Today, the intersections of Warrensville Center/Mayfield and Monticello/Noble stand out for their smoothness and serve as reminders that street maintenance reflects on the condition of a city.

Allan Kuntz is a resident of Cleveland Heights.