City prepares to spend $3.4 million for road improvements in 2023
by Melissa Martin
Dec. 20 city council meeting
The Brecksville service director describes the 2023 road construction program as “the most aggressive and ambitious” he can recall since taking office.
Service Director Ron Weidig told council committees Dec. 20 that the city plans to spend $3.4 million to upgrade its concrete and asphalt streets this year. The program will also include the construction of 22 ADA sidewalk ramps that will be installed throughout the city, $52,900 in guardrail replacements and approximately $50,000 in sidewalk repairs.
In total, Weidig said, the city aims to replace approximately 230 slabs of sidewalk throughout the city this summer, with a large portion of that work taking place on Whitewood Road and throughout the Bradford Village subdivision.
Additional sidewalk slab replacements are slated for Old Royalton Road, Ottawa Drive, a small portion of state Route 82, Queens Way, Riverview Road, Shenandoah Drive, Settlers Passage, Sherwood Trial, Snow Blossom Lane, Springside Oval, Southpointe Parkway and Tamarack Trail.
As far as asphalt work is concerned, Weidig said the city plans to continue an experimental program it implemented a few years back that aims to keep city roadways “in good shape.” As part of the program, he said, a few inches of asphalt is milled off and replaced. Among the list of areas the city will continue that program in 2023, he said, is the south end of Brecksville where the city plans to mill off two inches of Chippewa Road from Metroparks Drive to the Chippewa Road bridge.
“This is a large project for us, as the total is over $800,000, which will include a three-inch mill and fill in the entire area,” Weidig said. “We have talked about this in the past and explained to the residents who live in that area and complain about the road that we are waiting for the sewer project to be completed and this paving will hopefully be completed this summer.”
Weidig said the city also plans to repave the short section of Crabtree Trail, which is one of the last streets in the Timber Trail development to be completed.
“[That means] all of Timber Trail has been repaved and is in great shape,” he said. “All those streets have been repaved in last couple years, and all in very good condition.”
Other city roadways scheduled for improvement this year include Calvin Place, Crystal Creek Drive, Forest Lane, Glen Eagle Drive, Hidden Lake Trail, Hillsdale Road, Springhill Drive, Parkview Road, Oakes Road, Pioneer Pointe, Worbler’s Roost, Riverview Road, Snowville Road, Timothy Lane and Wiese Road from Chautauqua Trail to state Route 82. Additional work is slated for Crane Creek Parkway, Chestnut Circle, Glen Forest Trail, Glen Hollow Court, Graystone Parkway, Hickory Ridge Drive, Knights Way, Log Cabin Court and Noble Park Drive.
City council also approved the construction of a new handicapped-accessible ramp at the Blossom Hill campus. Weidig explained that the ramp outside Building No. 2, which was once rented by a church, is in a state of disrepair prior to a new lease for the building with Chagrin Valley Dispatch.
As part of the $9,800 project, new sidewalk will also be installed around the building, which will connect Building No. 2 to Building No. 3, Weidig said.
Council also approved a collective bargaining agreement with the Ohio Policeman’s Benevolent Association, which grants sergeants working in the city’s police department a 3% raise. Also approved was a salary increase by rank to ensure that sergeants working for the department earn 13% more than patrol officers. The agreement also adds an additional floating holiday for the sergeants instead of June 19 and authorizes the city to sell the sergeants their guns at the end of their careers for $1.
“We appreciate the sergeants handling of this,” said Brecksville Mayor Jerry Hruby. “As you know they are rep by OPBA, and they did not have [a] lawyer present. It was an amenable discussion, and I thank them for that. It worked out well for them and the city. They are getting some of what they wanted and some of what they wanted they didn’t get.”
Lastly, council approved the purchase of a new sound system for the City Hall Community Room at a cost of $6,399. ∞