TOLEDO, Ohio — For the first time in a long time, roadwork is happening now on Rochelle Avenue in west Toledo. It's just one of the streets set to be fixed during the city's 2021 residential road repaving program.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said that in the past, resurfacing was limited to just "improved" streets, excluding the 15% of roadways in the city that are categorized as "unimproved" streets.
What is an unimproved street, anyway? Kapszukiewicz said an unimproved street is, "in general, it's a street that doesn't have curbs. It doesn't hook into the sewer network as well as improved streets do."
Issue 4 - the Toledo roads levy - that passed last year is the reason all streets can now be properly resurfaced. Kapszukiewicz said Toledo had not done a good job maintaining its unimproved streets.
"Fact of the matter is, Toledo has never treated its unimproved streets the way it should have," he said. "Fortunately again, because of the passage of Issue 4 last year, we are now able to make historic improvements to all streets in the city of Toledo."
Resident Tom Tetting said that he's thrilled because roads in disrepair like this can cause a lot of car damage.
"With the new exit and entrance going on at Dorr Street, this street for anybody that lives here, this is gonna be a great throughway and the road is really thin and rough right now," Tetting said.
Here is the list of streets scheduled to be repaved or reconstructed this year is posted at toledo.oh.gov/roads