Route 84 repaving project set to start

Two-way traffic to be maintained, official says

Construction soon will get underway on a major Mentor corridor.

The resurfacing of Route 84 from Route 306 to Route 615 is scheduled to begin July 24. Construction is to be complete Sept. 29.

Work will start with placement of construction signs and preparation for grinding the pavement, to occur the week of July 31.

“Two-way traffic will be maintained with flaggers,” Mentor Engineer Dave Swiger said.

The $1.08 million project was awarded to Ronyak Brothers Paving Inc. of Burton in May.

The pavement condition has been the source of many complaints, Ward 2 Councilman Matt Donovan said.

“Especially that part behind Great Lakes Mall and in front of Ridge (Middle School), that’s where we got the most complaints,” he said. “And when you’re coming into Mentor on Route 306 north turning east onto 84, it looks so bad and the road’s all beat up. … It’s really going to turn that neighborhood around over there.”

As a state route, Route 84 qualifies for Ohio Department of Transportation’s Urban Paving Program funding. The department typically covers 80 percent of an asphalt overlay.

ODOT only agreed to help fund the portion from Route 306 to Garfield Road, because of a discrepancy over the pavement condition in the section from Garfield to 615.

However, Mentor officials were able to convince ODOT to lower the city’s cost of the initial area to a 15 percent match, down from 20 percent.

The city will cover the extra $140,000 for repaving the additional roadway.

“I think the big plus is that we got that part from Garfield to 615 added into it,” Donovan said.

“That was one of our big battles.”

ODOT lowered the city’s contribution because of Mentor’s preventative maintenance measures, District 12 spokeswoman Amanda McFarland said.