NILES — City council recently approved an emergency resolution authorizing the administration to contract with the Ohio Department of Transportation for the resurfacing of state routes 46 and 169.

According to the legislation, ODOT will resurface state Route 46 from Robbins Avenue to Niles Vienna Road and state Route 169 from Vienna Road to just east of Russell Avenue at some point in 2024.

According to the contract, the local match for Niles will be $534,544, which is 20% of the project cost. ODOT pays for the other 80%. The total project cost is more than $2 million.

Work on the state-maintained routes will include pavement repair, resurfacing and pavement marking along with sidewalk, and curb ramp, drainage and signage upgrades within the limits of the city.

“This is a major project,” Niles Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz said. “Vienna Road (Route 46) is one of the worst, if not the worst, condition-wise in the city of Niles … It is a very highly traveled route, both of those, Route 46 and Route 169. To get this project moved up, to get this long standing issue addressed with ODOT is a big win for the community.”

Originally, the two projects were scheduled to occur in 2026. After Niles officials met with ODOT, the department agreed to move the project up to 2024.

Mientkiewicz said the resurfacing of Routes 46 and 169 is expected to take place in spring or early summer.

Mientkiewicz said on such projects, where state routes within the city limits are resurfaced or repaired, Niles officials follow a similar process. He said ODOT has the projects planned and scheduled in its capital improvement plan.

“They notify the city of the project, when they plan on coming, and then it is up to the city to provide that local match,” Mientkiewicz said.

He said that in 2019, ODOT had a project on the “upper part” of Route 169, or Robbins Avenue, from the McKinley Heights neighborhood down to Cleveland Street.

“That project was handed over to the city. They required a 20% match for that section of the project and we took the same approach,” Mientkiewicz said. “Council appropriated the money, we signed the agreement, passed the final legislation and that upper part of Robbins Avenue was completed.”

Looking to the future, Mientkiewicz said the next road the city wants to see ODOT repair is U.S. Route 422.

Mientkiewicz said much like with Routes 46 and 169, city officials are hoping to have the resurfacing of Route 422 moved up on ODOT’s schedule.

“That road is older, it is getting to a condition where it is going to need to be resurfaced,” Mientkiewicz said.

He also said the city is in a fiscal situation where it can provide ODOT with some level of flexibility.

“We’re in a position now where if ODOT has any surprises in terms of scheduling, the city finances are solvent enough to have available the local match of 20% to get these projects completed,” Mientkiewicz said.

“If municipalities do not have the 20% local match, then the project is put on the shelf or moved out of schedule. So it’s very important to communicate with ODOT, understand their capital improvement plan, and when their correspondence comes into the city, make sure it is given to council and approved in a timely manner.”