MENTOR, Ohio — A project aiming to replace several miles of roadway on 11 of Mentor's streets has been completed.
A ribbon cutting ceremony took place Wednesday, December 21 with members of Mentor City Council and other city officials to celebrate the opening of these new roadways.
“We’re thrilled at the way it turned out,” says Mentor City Manager Kenneth J. Filipiak, “We’ve had great cooperation from residents throughout the project who were excited to see the improvements. We think it’s going to positively impact home values and fulfill our commitment to the residents of this community.”
The completion of this project is a long way coming with a commitment to the project from Mentor City Council going back to 2016.
The project fixed streets that are west of Corduroy Road that were once gravel roads going back to the early 1900s, paved as late as the 1950s and improved with drainage features in the 1970s.
“With the support of Council, we were able to secure funding to redo these roads in the Headlands area,” says Ward-4 Councilperson John Krueger, “The roads were in poor shape, the curbs were in poor shape, and it’s all new now…I’m very happy we were able to get this done.”
The project originally targeted seven streets including Marigold, Orchard, Belle Meadow, Wake Robin, Glen Lodge, Brooksdale, and Lake Overlook. But over time expanded to also include Forest, Maiden, Garden and Woodridge.
The six year cost of the project came in at about $13 million. 100% of the project was paid through public funding.
“We were very fortunate to have about 40% of it paid for through grants and our partnership with the Lake County Department of Utilities,” says Filipiak. "Outside funding included $2.635 million in grants and $900,000 in 0% interest loans from the Ohio Public Works Commission, $1.72 million in direct contribution and grant funding from the Lake County Department of Utilities, and $305,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding. City funds paid the rest.”