Valley View Road included in large-scale resurfacing project

by Laura Bednar

The Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study allocated $40 million to the greater Akron area for road projects at the end of January. Among those projects is resurfacing Valley View Road from Dunham Road to Olde Eight Road in Sagamore Township.

AMATS is the federally designated metropolitan planning organization serving the Greater Akron area of Portage and Summit counties and a portion of Wayne County, according to amatsplanning.org.

The AMATS resurfacing program will provide over $14 million for resurfacing projects, with $787,500 going toward the Valley View Road repaving. AMATS transportation engineer David Pulay explained that AMATS funds new projects every two years following the survey.

“We fund [projects] and park them in a particular year so the program is fiscally constrained,” he said.

While the Valley View Road project is not slated to begin until 2027, Pulay said sometimes large projects are delayed and a project could “move up if possible as funding becomes available.”

The project involves grinding out the old surface then repaving the road. During construction, at least one lane of traffic is kept open, according to Pulay.

Resurfacing is typical practice and prevents the road from rising too high with additional concrete, which Pulay said leads to the road not meeting existing commercial and residential driveways.

“It could also affect drainage,” he said.

The Summit County Engineer’s Office sponsored the project and will pay 10% of the cost. AMATS covers the other 90% with federal transportation dollars. ∞