State grants to fund repairs to highways in Dennison and Baltic damaged by April floods

TUSCARAWAS COUNTY ‒ Two area highways damaged during flooding in early April have been awarded grants by the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) through its discretionary Emergency Program.

The agency awarded $359,550 to repair a road slip on Stillwater Avenue in Dennison. The highway carries Ohio 800 through town. In addition, $266,533 was awarded for slope stabilization on County Road 46 (Ragersville Road) near Baltic.

During the storms in April, a small portion of the bank along Stillwater Avenue was eroded by high waters. The highway runs along Little Stillwater Creek. The village of Dennison made emergency repairs to keep the road open.

Mayor Greg DiDonato said the village applied for a much larger grant from the OPWC, but after discussions with officials from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), they were able to come up with alternative ways to reinforce the bank that were less expensive.

The grant from the state will pay for 90% of the project. The village will be responsible for the remainder, which is $40,000. Dennison will be working to get funds to cover the rest of the cost.

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The village plans to put the project out to bid in September or October, and have a contract awarded by the end of the year.

Site of new businesses

The mayor said it is essential to keep Stillwater Avenue open, because two new businesses there ‒ Smart Sand, which supplies sand for the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of oil and gas wells, which has already opened, and Stillwater Crossing, a men's substance use treatment and recovery center, which will be opening in the near future.

At the time of the slip, DiDonato had said he wanted Ohio 800 rerouted away from Dennison if ODOT was unwilling to pay for repairs. "At this point, there's no benefit to us to have 800 go through town," he said.

The state highway goes through the Thornwood Park section of town, a residential area. In the past, the road saw limited use. But in recent months, a well was drilled on Moravian Trail Road near the village. For 40 days, an endless stream of trucks used the state route. "That brought a lot of complaints," the mayor said. Stop signs were knocked over, and the village was replacing about one a week.

"I made it clear to ODOT that this is putting a lot of stress on our roads," he said. More wells are likely to be drilled in the vicinity.

Since that time, village and ODOT officials have discussed the situation, and they are working on ways to share responsibility for maintenance, he said. ODOT officials were also helpful in getting the emergency grant, he added.

Slope failure

Near Baltic, heavy rains caused a slope failure that broke up the pavement on County Road 46, according to County Engineer Doug Bachman. "It's open, but we had to put cold mix to patch the cracks," he said.

He is not sure when final repairs will be made.

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: State aid will fund repairs to area roads damaged by flooding