Now that spring has arrived, the Kent, Ravenna and Portage County engineers will begin maintaining the streets through concrete repairs, pavement repairs, road resurfacing, crack seal and seal coating projects.

James Bowling, Kent City Engineer said every year he selects the worst roads in the city to repair by using the Pavement Condition Index. He said roads are rated from zero to 100, with zero being a failed condition and 100 being a very good condition.

Bowling said he also factors in the traffic volume when making his decision.

“Route 59 might not be the worst street for the city, but if it gets to a certain level, we’ll fix that first before others because it has 20 something thousand cars a day on it versus a small alley that doesn’t have much,” he said.

The list of roads to be fixed this year includes Crain Avenue, Orchard Street, a section of Columbus Street, Williams Street, a section of Park Avenue, Oak Street, a section of Valleyview Drive and Burr Oak Drive.

The budget for these projects comes from the city’s capital program, which consists of 25 percent of all income taxes. Bowling said this year’s budget is estimated at about $850,000 to $900,000. Crain Avenue alone will cost about $200,000.

Although Bowling hasn’t started advertising for the projects yet, he said the work should start sometime in July. Once he finishes advertising, contractors will bid on the jobs and then they will set up a contract to get started working.

Overall, Bowling said it will take about two to three weeks to finish a street. He expects all of the streets to be finished in no more than a month or two.

Fred James, the Portage County Engineer’s project manager, said there are three major projects this year: Sandy Lake Road from Rootstown Road to Meloy Road; Cable Line Road from state Route 225, west to the entrance of West Branch State Park; and Waterloo Road from the Summit County line, east to where it crosses U.S. Route 224.

The total budget for these projects is almost $1.74 million, funded through state and federal programs. James said Sandy Lake Road will cost $340,000, Cable Line Road will cost $450,000 and Waterloo Road will cost $945,000.

Bidding for the first project will begin on April 27. James said he expects all of the projects to be finished by the end of the summer.

Contact Jackie McLean at [email protected].