Section of Route 84 to be repaved

City adds extra stretch with funding deal from ODOT

The good news is that more of Route 84 in Mentor will be resurfaced this year.

The bad news is the added portion is coming out of the city’s pocket.

But city officials are celebrating nonetheless. They recently announced that the Ohio Department of Transportation will lower the city’s cost on the original project area — Route 306 to Garfield Road — to 15 percent. That is down from 20 percent.

Local leaders had tried to convince ODOT to

help fund work all the way to Route 615.

As a state route, Route 84 qualifies for ODOT’s Urban Paving Program funding. The department typically covers 80 percent of an asphalt overlay.

“Resurfacing on state Route 84 between state Route 615 and Garfield Road was not originally included because ODOT’s review of the Pavement Condition Rating did not show the surface warranted the repairs,” ODOT District 12 spokeswoman Amanda McFarland said. “PCR is determined by the distresses of the pavement in each respective section. That section will be completed by the city.”

She added that ODOT lowered the city’s contribution because of preventative maintenance measures taken by the latter.

The city conducted its own review using ODOT’s rating system.

“We felt that the condition of this section of state Route 84 had progressively declined and should be included within the project limits,” Mentor Engineer Dave Swiger said. “ODOT re-evaluated the half-mile section but still felt the condition did not justify being included in the project.”

He added that the city’s cost reduction will help offset paying for the remaining repaving.

The total construction cost is estimated at $1.3

million. About $140,000 is for the additional roadway.

The city gave the stretch a rating of 38, while ODOT broke it down into three subsections and rated them from 70 to 83.

“Due to the different approach to rating the pavement section, these numbers are not comparable to the city’s numbers,” Swiger said.

The administration decided it was in the city’s best interest to proceed with the additional work anyway. The entire repaving project is expected to be awarded in May, with construction to begin in June and be complete in September.

“Although we would have liked to see a little greater participation from ODOT, we’re appreciative of them meeting us almost exactly halfway,” City Manager Ken Filipiak said, noting the savings on the first segment. “We do appreciate their reconsideration on that.”

Councilman at large Scott J. Marn gave kudos to the administration, Ward 2 Councilman Matt Donovan and state Reps. Ron Young and John Rogers.

“Everyone’s worked hard to get this done,” said Marn, who lives within the project area. “You think it’s common sense, because it’s a state route, they’re going from Route 306 to Garfield Road, just go another half a mile to 615, and it wasn’t the case. But I’m glad we all got it done.”