Unimproved roads are now a part of Toledo’s Residential Road Program
TOLEDO, Ohio — ‘Unimproved roads’ sure seems like an umbrella term for all the streets that have yet to receive attention from the City of Toledo. However, in the city charter, there is a definition: they’re streets without a curb. But up until voters approved a charter change in 2023 — allowing them to be included in the annual residential road program — they’ve only received lackluster fixes.
“I’ve been really proud of our road resourcing efforts, frankly, ever since 2020 — when the citizens passed the Toledo Roads Levy, the special quarter percent that can only be spent fixing residential roads,” said Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz.
The mayor, who I caught up with following a recent unrelated forum, says that since 1965 — when Adams Township and Washington Township joined the city — Toledo’s been prevented from using capital dollars for these kinds of streets. He says he’s always felt it was unfair.
“Everyone would agree that the core bread and butter of city service: police, fire, roads, snow removal, leaf collection, trash collection, etc. — it’s just a core service. And the unfortunate reality is we have a big need in Toledo, a big challenge in Toledo.”
Kapszukiewicz says the freeze/thaw cycle with the change of seasons can result in the condition of streets deteriorating. So, even with the ability to fix 50 lane miles per year, it’s only a game of cat and mouse.
“There’s probably 800 lane miles of roads that need to be improved. So, at the current rate, it would take us 16 years to fix all the roads of Toledo — and that assumes that none of the roads currently that don’t need to be resurfaced get any worse, which, obviously, they will.”
The mayor says in order for the city to continue this progress, he encourages voters to renew the quarter percent tax — not a new tax, of course — at the polls this March. When asked about equitably repairing streets, he added that decisions on which streets to prioritize are solely based on the guidance of the city’s engineers.
