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Steubenville reveals street resurfacing plan

STEUBENVILLE — More than a dozen city streets are slated for resurfacing, with the work being paid for with revenue collected from Steubenville’s .7 percent income tax.

City Engineer Mike Dolak earlier this week unveiled a new, four-year plan — covering 2026-2029 — to address the worst of the worst streets using revenue from the .7 percent income tax, which will be on the ballot renewal in 2026. While a big chunk of the revenue — estimated at $4,480,000 for 2025 — is used for local street projects, that money also can be used as local match for grants for big-ticket projects.

“The .7 percent income tax levy is very vital for the city of Steubenville,” Dolak said. “Not only does it provide funding for the local city road projects, but it provides the backup funds needed for obtaining federal grants for larger roadway improvements, such as our Lovers Lane expansion.”

Dolak said there are other streets that may need attention, “but they’re not as bad as the roads on this list.” He said he and Engineer Technician Dino DiMarzio traveled the city, focusing on streets “that haven’t been resurfaced in some time.”

“(We) drove the entire city,” Dolak said. “We look at all the roads as a whole, then we come back and compare his notes to mine, combine them and come up with a project.”

Streets on the .7 percent income-tax funded resurfacing list include:

• 2026: Wellesley Avenue Extension from University Boulevard to Carnegie Street; and Wellesley Avenue from Carnegie Street to Belleview Boulevard. Estimated cost to do both streets is $650,200.

• 2027: South Forest Avenue from Chestnut Street to Sunset Boulevard; North Forest Avenue from Sunset Boulevard to Cherry Avenue; Cherry Avenue from North Forest Avenue to Pico Street; McConnell Avenue from Powell Avenue to Sunset Boulevard; McDowell Avenue from Sunset Boulevard to Orchard Avenue; Martha Place from Orchard Avenue to the east terminus, and Orchard Avenue from Martha Place to the east terminus. Estimated cost for the project is $555,225.

• 2028: Greenwich Avenue from the north terminus to West Argonne Avenue; West Argonne Avenue from Greenwich Avenue to Sunset Boulevard; Valley View Avenue from Buena Vista Boulevard to Stratford Boulevard; and Valley View Avenue from Stratford Boulevard to the north terminus. Estimated cost to do the streets is $452,825.

• 2029: Belleview Boulevard from Sunset Boulevard to the Lawson Avenue Bridge; State Street from Lawson Avenue to Ash Avenue; Ash Avenue from State Street to Cedar Avenue; Cedar Avenue from State Street to West Adams Street; and Langley Avenue from Sunset Boulevard to the south terminus. Estimated cost to do the streets is $600,475.

“Back in 2014 we had a road asset management plan done for about $40,000 that looked at all our roads, the severity of (them) and gave us a list, from one to 500, of the ones in bad shape and classified them,” Dolak said. “But it’s not set in stone — it’s a guide for us to use.”

He said they’re “trying to do roads that have a significant amount of traffic on them and are vital to the city of Steubenville.”

“I understand that not everybody is going to like the plan we come up with, but we’re try to bring the best plan forward to treat roads that need to be treated and also be fiscally responsible,” he said.

Dolak said they couldn’t do that amount of street resurfacing without the income tax.

“It’s critical for us to do local jobs like this and also for major federal jobs, because that’s our back-up money,” he reiterated. “The money (it) generates helps out tremendously with these projects and with federal projects, because it can be used as the local match.”

Dolak said they also identified streets that should be resurfaced with federal Community Development Block Grant funds, provided that money continues to be available. He stressed there are no guarantees the income-driven program will continue to be available.

When funding is available, CDBG resurfacing is restricted to income-eligible areas. If funding is available, Dolak said they’re looking at:

• 2026: North Eighth Street from Franklin Avenue to the south terminus; Acme Street from North Eighth Street to North Seventh Street; Greenfield Avenue from Lincoln Boulevard to Arden Avenue; and Alton Avenue from Lincoln to Woodland Avenue.

• 2027: Franklin Avenue from North Fifth Street to Highland Avenue.

“CDBG funds are meant for low- and moderate-income neighborhoods — that’s the only place that money can be spent,” he said. “We don’t know what we’re going to get.”

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