Of the $1.74 billion approved in Ohio’s capital budget this year, $300 million is slated to fund local projects throughout the state. Athens County could see about $500,000 of those funds for repaving County Road 19.
Though the final allocations of the capital budget are not yet finalized, Athens County Engineer Archie Stanley said he expects his department to receive about half a million dollars to repave County Road 19, also known as Radford Road, between State Route 56 and State Route 32/50.
County Road 19, a common cut-through between Ohio Route 56 and Route 32/50, is expected to cost $500,000 to repave, Stanley said.
“We usually get $300,000-$400,000 (annually),” Stanley said. “Making roads is very expensive; (putting) down new berm, center line striping, and idle line striping is a part of the project also.”
Stanley said Athens County has to come up with $130,000 — or about 26 percent of the cost — toward the project, which will pave more than one mile of two-lane road.
Construction on the road should begin in either August or September of this year, Stanley said.
According to the Ohio Capital budget, $363.5 million dollars has been set aside for public works, $300 million of which is for local government projects. The remainder is for revolving loan funds.
“Revolving loan funds are for if there is a particular project that money is not allocated for, they can take out a loan from the state with a really low rate,” said Tom Betti, the communications manager at Ohio’s Office of Budget and Management.
The public works category received the third-highest amount of money in this year’s Capital Budget, with public and higher education taking the top two spots with a combined investment of more than $1 billion — around 60 percent of the total budget.
In his testimony to the House Finance and Appropriations Committee, Timothy Keen, the director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, said in order to help keep the Ohio budget slim, there will be no funding from the state’s capital budget for community projects.
Betti said community projects, such as a fountain in a city square or operating costs for a museum, are not infrastructure projects and will not receive funding.
“Although the state's financial situation remains tight, there is bond financing available for some types of projects,” said Ohio Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-92nd. “My concern is that a failure to make modest investments now may create a backlog of need, which could cost the state more in the long run.”
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