By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer

The City of North Royalton received some good news in the form of notification last week from the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works that they will be eligible to receive for funding for the Bennet Road resurfacing project.
The project would include the resurfacing of the southern section of Bennett Road, which runs from Edgerton Road, south to Bridgewater. The area encompasses about two miles of roadway. The project would encompass the removal and replacement of the asphalt, much like the State and Ridge Road projects that took place several years ago, according to City Engineer Mark Schmitzer.

The Bennett Road resurfacing project was one of two projects that the city had asked for funding from the state’s Issue 1 Funding Program. The other project was the W. 130th Street and York Road Sanitary Sewer Improvements. Unfortunately, neither project scored high enough to even be considered for re-evaluation for the current funding year. The city had placed the request for the Bennett Road project on the Issue 1 wish list for the past several years, but to no avail. The Cuyahoga County Council unanimously adopted the legislation to fund the project and was signed on February 28. The resolution was sponsored by County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Department of Public Works, Division of the County Engineer and co-sponsored by Councilman Mike Gallagher.

The total estimated cost of the project is $1,580,669. The agreement with the county states that they will pay 80% of eligible construction costs or $1,264,536, with the city picking up the remaining 20%, or $316,133. The costs covered include the administration and supervision of the construction. The city will also be responsible for 100% of the engineering costs, including plan preparation and drawing up the specifications. The project is expected to be bid out next year, with construction starting shortly thereafter.

“This is another effort of North Royalton working with our regional partners to bring back infrastructure dollars to our community. We will continue to aggressively seek additional funding from local, state and federal agencies,” said Mayor Bob Stefanik.