MANSFIELD — The Ohio Dept. of Transportation is planning a $31.9 million project to completely reconstruct Ohio 13 on the city’s south side.

The project will be bid in April of 2024, according to Crystal Neelon, public information officer for the eight-county ODOT District 3 based in Ashland.

Neelon said construction on the 3.4-mile stretch of state highway will begin in March of 2025 and be complete by August 2026.

Mansfield City Council is expected to vote on a resolution Tuesday night granting consent for the work to be done inside the city limits.

A major ODOT rehabilitation project is planned on Ohio 13 on the City of Mansfield’s south side, beginning in March of 2025.

The work will be done between Hanley Road on the south and Raleigh Avenue on the north, Neelon said. The project will be done at no cost to the City of Mansfield, using a mix of federal and state funds.

Design work for the project is expected to be $2.9 million with actual construction costs of $28,787,000.00, according to the ODOT website.

Pavement repair project was done in 2021

A pavement repair project on the same stretch of road was done in the summer 2021. Neelon said at the time it was designed to maintain the several miles of highway until it’s “completely removed and rebuilt in the next few years.”

“It wouldn’t be fiscally responsible to repave the road now and then replace it in a few years,” Neelon said in 2021.

The divided, four-lane highway, a composite surface concrete and asphalt, serves as the southern entrance to the city from I-71.

Neelon said the major rehabilitation project will include the “rubblization” of the surface. The process includes removing and fracturing three to four inches of asphalt and concrete, which will then be used in making a new base for the roadway.

This process increases the lifespan of any overlay and ensures a better driving experience for the traveling public, according to ODOT.

After that is done, four to five inches of asphalt concrete will be put down, Neelon said. She said ODOT does normal inspections of road surfaces and a major rehab project was found to be necessary on Ohio 13.

In other planned council activity

Also on Tuesday, City Council is scheduled to:

— vote on an ordinance expressing approval and support of the city’s Office of Community Development’s Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report for program year 20222 — July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.

— vote to spend American Rescue Plan Act funds for a Clearfork Reservoir garbage can curb tender insert ($48,000), water department tractor and mower deck ($42,000) renovation of the municipal building HVAC system ($400,000) and premium pay for city workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employee Local 3088 ($600,000).

— vote to authorize the acceptance of a $1,2000 grant from the Ohio Division of Emergency Medical Services for the purchase of EMS equipment.

— vote to authorize the acceptance of two grants totaling $500,000 from the U.S. Dept. of Justice DNA Capacity Enhancement Backlog Reduction Program to be used in the Mansfield Police Department crime lab.

— discuss during caucus a contract for the retail purchase of gas and diesel fuel for the Mansfield Fire Department.

— discuss potential for a contract for engineering and planning services to improve Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport. The legislation, scheduled to be discussed during an airport committee meeting at 6:50 p.m., doesn’t specify the nature of the improvements.

— discuss legislation to amend the city’s ordinances that would increase the “threshold for competitive bidding, thereby maintaining consistency with the Ohio Revised Code.” The current threshold requiring competitive bids is $50,000. The proposed change would increase that to $75,000.

— vote to authorize the public works director to enter into a contract for a storm sewer installation project at and around North Main Street related to the Touby Run Flood Mitigation Hazard Project. No dollar amount is specified in the legislation, scheduled to b discussed during a public utilities committee meeting at 6:45 p.m.

— vote to vacate an unnamed alley between Bowman and Springmill streets.

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City editor. 30-year plus journalist. Husband. Father of 3 grown sons and also a proud grandpa. Prior military journalist in U.S. Navy, Ohio Air National Guard. -- Favorite quote: "Where were you when...