Upper Arlington's infrastructure planning for 2015 taking shape

City notes By THEODORE J. STATON Wednesday November 19, 2014 11:22 AM

The city has long recognized the disconnect between the worsening condition of our critical but aging infrastructure networks and how much maintenance work has been implemented through our capital improvement program (CIP).

This has not gone unnoticed by residents. Results of the 2013 community survey reaffirmed high levels of satisfaction with police, fire and EMS services, leaf collection and snow removal but highlighted a noticeable decline in satisfaction with the condition of roads and sidewalks.

In part, this is why in 2013 the city engineer developed a plan to address the backlog of work within an achievable timeframe. The result is a 10-year CIP planning process, with a price tag of $113 million for its first 10 years.

With the needs mapped out and a price tag identified, the CIP was studied at length by a subcommittee of the Citizen Financial Review Task Force as part of its charge from Upper Arlington City Council.

The resulting recommendations of the task force led to the city's recent and successful ballot request for an increase in the income tax rate to 2.5 percent, with 100 percent of the funds generated dedicated to the CIP.

With this important funding mechanism in place and set to take effect Jan. 1, 2015, the city is proceeding as planned with the projects slated for next year.

Tremont Road, Phase 1

The work scheduled in 2015 runs from Fishinger Road south to Ridgeview Road. The project is guided by the Tremont Streetscape study, which was developed by consultant MKSK last winter.

It offered ideas for the reconstruction of Tremont that would facilitate pedestrian accessibility, traffic safety and improve the aesthetics of the Tremont corridor.

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Upper Arlington's infrastructure planning for 2015 taking shape