Elyria Council select roads for 2026 resurfacing projects

ELYRIA — City Council doled out its annual street repair funds Wednesday evening, with ward representatives vying to cross pockmarked streets off their to-do lists for 2026. Utilizing a list of roads in "poor" or "failed" condition per a report completed earlier this year by Pavement Management Group, ward members divided up the city's $2.3 million in half-percent income tax funds — previously known as Issue 6 money — to repair aging roadways. Each ward received about $328,000 to repair roads in its boundaries, with elected officials putting a list to the city's Engineering Department at a Utilities, Safety and Environment meeting Wednesday. Council President Donna Mitchell, D-6th Ward, noted street resurfacing is "the most important thing a ward councilperson can do," and thanks to the voters' continued support of the half-percent income tax since its initial passage in 2016, Elyria continues to be able to resurface roads each year. Mitchell said she used PMG's streetscan to look at the roads in her ward ranked as "failed," and sent them to City Engineer John Schneider for inclusion on the upcoming list. Prior to PMG's report, grading streets has fallen to the city's Engineering and Street departments. The third-party tool, which used artificial intelligence to map and grade the city's public roadways, provided a different viewpoint. Failed roads, according to the PMG report, were identified as the roads with the highest intensity of pavement distress. About 24 percent of the city's roadways were in poor or failed condition, according to the report. Committee members briefly discussed a proposal by Councilman Andrew Lipian, I-1st Ward, to change how funds are divided between wards. Lipian suggested that rather than budget the same amount for each ward, those with the highest number of failed streets receive more money than others. Kenny Oswald, D-4th Ward, felt Wednesday's meeting was too late to discuss a change for this year's process. Others agreed. The report looks only at the condition of the street, not how much traffic it receives or how many residents live on it or businesses it serves. Instead, members continued the process as it occurred years prior: Each council member ticking off a list of their worst streets in need of resurfacing until they reach their funding limit. Wards 1 and 3 shared some roads, as was common in years past. Beyond resurfacing, city workers plan to expand crack sealing efforts starting in April to prevent further damage to roadways. The list of streets planned for repaving, pending full Council approval, include: Ward 1 Oxford Avenue between Park and Garford avenues Williams Street between Clark and Buckeye streets Blaine Street Park Avenue between Vassar and Miami Avenues Sumner Street between East Broad Street and the railroad tracks Yale Avenue between East River Road and Sherman Street Clark Street between Abbe Road and South Logan Street Ward 2 Bond Street between West River Road and Furnace Street Furnace Street from state Route 57 to Bell Avenue Erie Street between West River and Lorain roads Persons Court Florance Court Ward 3 Defiance Street between Chestnut Ridge Road and Carol Lane Prospect Street between Michigan Avenue and the Cambridge apartments Ward 4 Alexander Drive between Abbe Road and 160 Alexander Drive Commodore Circle Hamilton Avenue between Washington Avenue and Glenwood Street Olivet Drive Ward 5 Fifth Street between West and Middle avenues Vic Janowicz Drive 14th Street between West and Middle avenues Depot Street between Cedar Street and the fire station Riverside Drive between Eighth and 10th streets Faxon Drive between 14th and 15th streets Ward 6 Bell Court between Clemens Avenue and 1250 Bell Ave. Oakwood Street from Penfield Avenue to Clemens Avenue Academy Court Brunswick Drive from Academy Court to Chadwick Court Ward 7 White Oak Drive between Poplar and Sycamore streets Brandtson Avenue between Ohio and Greely streets Harwood Drive from Cleveland Street to Hamilton Avenue Marsailles Avenue between Sycamore Street and state Route 57 Suggested alternative road projects, depending on funding availability, include: Pasadena Avenue between Cleveland and Ohio streets Linwood Court between Fuller and Nelson roads Neufer Court Frank Court This story has been updated to include an additional street in Ward 1. Contact Carissa Woytach at cwoytach@chroniclet.com.