BARBERTON: A residential street that for decades has been considered too challenging and expensive to fix will be getting a $2.2 million makeover this year.
Ninth Street Northeast on the city’s east side — a 1-mile stretch that runs between the busy thoroughfares of Robinson Avenue and East State Street — is going to “be a total mess” during construction this spring, summer and fall, Mayor Bill Judge acknowledged.
But when it’s done, it will sport a new surface, curbs and drive aprons as well as new storm sewers and waterlines.
The city will also eliminate a triangular intersection that connects Ninth to State in two different ways.
Gone will be a 45-degree turn that allows motorists on State to sweep onto Ninth while barely touching the brake peddle, Judge said.
The new layout will make drivers use the remaining option — a short East Huston Street stub with a stop sign — to enter or exit Ninth with two 90-degree turns.
Construction is expected to begin in May and be completed in October. The project is being bid this month and the contract will be awarded in March.
The $2.2 million price tag is an estimate. To put the cost into perspective, the city spent $2.2 million in 2015 paving 47 streets.
The street project is such big news for the east side that two community meetings have been held to answer questions and get feedback.
Judge said some residents told him they’ve been waiting half a century for their street to be shown some love, but were repeatedly told there were too many challenges and that it would cost too much.
In the past, city officials have also intentionally ignored the road so that its rough surface and uncomfortable dips would deter speeders and cut-through drivers.
Then three years ago, voters passed a permanent quarter-percent income tax increase exclusively for street projects, allowing the city to resurface nearly 100 roads to date.
Now it’s Ninth Street’s turn, Judge said.
“We’re doing it. It’s going to be a major, major reconstruction project, but it’s going to be worth it,” he told the City Council this week. “It’s exciting to be able to do a project like this.”
The project involves dropping the street surface about 8 inches. The street will also be made a consistent 30 feet across; currently, the width decreases to 25 feet in some areas.
Residents were offered other amenities, such as sidewalks on one or both sides, bike lanes or wider street lanes that would accommodate walkers and joggers without sidewalks, Judge said.
But they overwhelmingly declined those ideas because many of the homes have small front yards. Taking 8 feet of land for sidewalks and devil strips would leave them little room to park in their own driveways.
Larry Miller has lived on Ninth for 27 years and can’t remember it ever being resurfaced, just patched up when necessary.
He’s a bit worried that a nice, smooth surface will invite speeders.
“It’s already a racetrack. ... They drive 50 mph, even with all these bumps,” he said.
Still, he’s looking forward to how the neighborhood will look when it’s all done.
“It will sure make all the houses look nicer,” he said.
He’s asked city officials to consider putting a stop sign somewhere on Ninth to make it less inviting as a cut-through, but has been told traffic laws discourage stop signs as a way of regulating speed.
“I guess we’ll have to see what happens,” he said.
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.