MANSFIELD — Nearly 24 miles of Mansfield streets will be resurfaced in 2025 at an estimated cost of $5.9 million, thanks to the city’s “Pothole Haters Tax.”
Mansfield City Council on Tuesday evening approved the city seeking bids for the work, which is funded by the 0.25-percent city income tax that generates about $4.8 million annually.
In 2024, the city resurfaced 18.8 miles of its 321 miles of streets at a cost of $4.3 million.
City engineer Bob Bianchi said it would be the city’s 41st such resurfacing program made possible through the tax issue approved by voters, revenue from which can only be used for such road repairs.
It will cover 129 segments of city roads, he said.
“Mansfield is really blessed to be able to have a funding source for this type of work,” Bianchi said. “Every year, there’s dozens of miles that are resurfaced inside the city to keep our streets in a good condition.”
He provided council members with a map (right) showing which streets would be repaved. The map includes a QR code on the bottom left that allows residents to learn more about the work planned in 2025.
Bianchi credited Blair McClenathan and Ken McKee from his office for their work on the project.
“They’re the two that did all the work for this. They get the credit. They work very hard on this. We do not hire an engineer for inspection or design for this program. It’s all done in-house,” he said.
(Below are the street names that will be resurfaced in 2025.)
At-large Councilman David Falquette asked Bianchi how many years a street lasts before it needs to be resurfaced. The engineer said it’s 10 to 11 years, on average.
“Some streets you have to resurface more frequently because of water that’s under the pavement. Other streets may last 15 years. So it just depends a lot on the subgrade that’s happening and whether or not there’s poor or adequate drainage,” he said.
He said part of McKee’s work is to rate all of the streets.
“He drives all the streets that have not been paved in the last five years and rates them. Those are the streets that are considered for the resurfacing project. We don’t leave any pavement out of inspection every year. We go through and try to inspect as much as we can, and then the following year, we do the same thing,” Bianchi said.
The “Pothole Haters Tax” is a four-year tax that was last approved by voters in 2021 with 76 percent of the vote. It will be on the May primary ballot as the city seeks to renew it for another four years.
Also on Tuesday, City Council approved the acceptance of $450,000 from the Richland County Board of Commissioners to be used as part of the $19.3 million Main Street Corridor Improvement Project set to begin in early 2025.
Commissioners approved the funding Nov. 26, which will be done by waiving $450,000 from the fees the City of Mansfield pays to the county as part of its jail services contract.
Bianchi said the lowest bid for the contract came in about $2 million higher than estimated. Kokosing Construction submitted the lowest of three construction bids for the sprawling project at $17,751,811, nearly 14 percent above the estimate of $15,560,000.
Structurepoint, an engineering firm with offices in Columbus, will be paid around $1.6 million to provide inspection services during the work.
“We worked internally to find some additional funds to help offset that cost,” Bianchi said. “Thankfully, the county commissioners have agreed to help fund that gap.”
“We are now up to 16 funds … the entire 16 funding sources … the entire project is fully funded and we’re ready to go here in February,” the engineer said.
The project includes a complete upgrade of Main Street from First to Sixth streets and Park Avenue from Main to Diamond streets.
It involves replacing water mains, storm sewers, streetscape amenities, streetscape furnishings, decorative hardscape, sidewalks, curb ramps, signals, landscaping and lighting, Bianchi said.
The north and south plazas will be fully renovated, including fountain reconstruction.
The cost of the water and sewer lines is the biggest difference between the estimate and the bids submitted, Bianchi has said.
Mayor Jodie Perry has said the entire water main, nearly a century old, beneath Main Street in the project area will be replaced as part of the project.
“The last thing that we want to do is put this beautiful new streetscape in and then have to keep digging it up for water main breaks,” the mayor said.
“While there is an increase, I want the public to understand what that money is being used for. That replacement is a big part of the project.”
As part of the project, $3,092,907 in city water funds will now be used, up from $1.3 million when the project was estimated for bid.
City sewer funds for the effort jumped to $1,137,909, up from $687,000 when first estimated.
The largest single source of funds for the project comes from a $7.3 million federal grant obtained in 2022 through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity competitive grant program.
