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County engineer reports on roads and bridges

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XENIA — The Greene County engineer’s resurfacing program continues as part of the 2020 Road and Bridge Program.

Paving on Wilmington-Dayton Road wrapped up last week. John R. Jurgensen Co., is currently milling and paving Fairground Road between Beaver Valley Road and the City of Xenia corporation through Friday, Aug. 28. Resurfacing of Spring Valley-Paintersville Road will follow, possibly in September or October, according to County Engineer Stephanie Goff. Those three road projects span 18.15 miles.

Old U.S. 35 and Trebein Road projects are on the list as well but have been pushed back until next year, partly due to COVID-19 and the lack of funding. Ohio Public Works Commission funding is available, but $1 million in local money will be needed for both roads.

“We are funded by gas taxes and license plates. With COVID and people staying home, that has significantly reduced our revenue source. That’s money we are not going to get back,” Goff said by phone last Friday. “We are watching our budget — what we can and can’t do — and trying to stay within our means.”

The county engineer told commissioners during her annual report at their Aug. 6 meeting that resurfacing is done about every 10 years. Chip and seal, and microsurfacing, she said, are done more frequently, about every two to five years. Both are maintenance processes used to make good pavement last longer.

Totaling 19.82 miles, chip and seal was done on Cherry Grove, Junkin, Wolford, Cortsville, Orchard Grove, Paintersville-New Jasper and Port William roads. Microsurfacing was done on Polecat and South Charleston roads, totaling 6.22 miles. Both of those projects are complete now.

Goff said she’s working on a long-range plan for roads and bridges, looking ahead five to 10 years. She told commissioners it would be adjusted each year based on weather and development.

“From a budget standpoint, it’s just good to have a long-range capital plan,” Goff said. “It may be taking care of culverts and any other issues ahead of time. It’s good to plan for all of your infrastructure.”

The capital improvement plan also includes safety improvement projects, which will begin with studies on various intersections in the county, some that are labeled as high-crash and others that are in quickly-developing areas.

Also regarding safety, guard rail replacements were done this year with $300,000 worth of federal funding.

Bridges are overall in good shape, according to Goff, although the office is changing the way they are inspecting them.

“There are a number of bridges that we don’t want going bad at the same time. We need to be proactive,” she said.

The county engineer is not only responsible for the maintenance of 324 miles of county roads and 283 bridges but also snow and ice removal during the winter.

Goff reported that salt this year was purchased for about $46 per ton — compared to last year’s roughly $92 per ton.

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By Anna Bolton

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Call 937-502-4498 or follow Anna Bolton, Reporter on Facebook.