TOLEDO, Ohio — In early January, the city of Toledo announced plans to rehab nearly 70 miles of roads in 2023. The Toledo Department of Transportation Residential Roads Program plans to resurface 105 residential streets, patch and seal 44 streets and overlay 24 unimproved streets.
One of those streets, Yates Street in north Toledo, is where unofficial neighborhood handyman Elias Urbina proudly lives.
"This is one of the best streets in north Toledo," Urbina said. "People care about their community."
Urbina originally grew up in Toledo and moved to Texas in 1970. But, he came back about four years ago and loves his neighbors.
He wants the city of Toledo to take notice of how hard all of his neighbors work to keep their area looking nice. He said there are only a few homes truly in need of repair that he can't do himself, so he's hopeful the city will assist.
And just like how Urbina handles repairs for neighbors on his street, he hopes it will be inexpensive or free.
"I've put some siding up for people, done painting and plumbing work for people," Urbina said. He said he'll charge about $100 dollars for his work, as opposed to the $2,000-3,000 residents may be charged by others.
Urbina's process is simple: the neighbors buy the supplies and he takes it from there. It's all done in an effort to make his neighborhood look nice. But, Yates Street is still in need of serious repairs, including speed bumps, a widened street and repaired sidewalks.
While the city does have plans to take care of the sidewalks, there doesn't seem to be any other work like speed bumps or street widening planned.
Urbina was unaware until Friday that Yates Street is slated for road repair by the city of Toledo.
"I think the neighbors here are going to be happy," he said. "It's something that needs to be done, and like I said, this street, people care about this street."
About five minutes away on 10th Street in downtown Toledo, Ashley Reil, the owner and cosmetologist of Simple Beauty Salon and Spa, was also shocked to learn the street outside her business is slated for repairs.
Having worked in downtown Toledo for the last 16 years, she said anyone who spends enough time in the area, especially in recent years, knows construction and downtown are synonymous.
"It's a big complaint of the clients," Reil said. "This street's closed, this street's closed, this street's closed, and then they have to finagle their way around."
But, it's a necessary inconvenience, she said.
"We want people to come downtown," Reil said. "There are so many deterrents for people to come downtown. Nice roads would be a huge benefit."