Portage County engineer is mapping out a busy 2024 | Along the Way

Larry Jenkins, who succeeded Mickey Marozzi as Portage County engineer last year, has an ambitious 2024 schedule that includes replacing four bridges, improving multiple roads and helping townships bid out many resurfacing and reconstruction projects.

The long-awaited replacement of the Ravenna Road bridge spanning the Norfolk & Southern Railway near Towner’s Woods is scheduled to be advertised in July with construction to begin in early 2025. The bridge has been closed since December 2017.

“We still need the Norfolk & Southern to sign off on the right of way,” he said.

The replacement bridge will elevate the crossing more than a foot. The new bridge will feature a hike and bike lane paralleling the road for vehicles. Cost will be about $2 million, most of it paid for by federal grants.

The Judson Road bridge that spans the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway in Franklin Township is scheduled to be bid in July and constructed early next year. The bridge’s deck will be replaced with minor structural repairs. The project is budgeted at $500,000.

A new single-span bridge for Randolph Road over Potter Creek in Randolph Township is being advertised in February with construction to take place this summer at a cost of $900,000. Plans to replace the Old Forge Road bridge in Rootstown Township spanning Breakneck Creek are near completion. They will be advertised this fall with construction expected in mid-2025. Estimated cost is about $1 million.

With around 369 miles of county roads to maintain, Portage County looks to many sources for capital improvement funding. Over the last few years, AMATS resurfacing grant funds at a 20% match were used to resurface Tallmadge Road from State Route 44 to the Mahoning County line.

Jenkins has secured funding this year from the Ohio Public Works Commission to resurface Industry Road from County Highway 18 south to Taylor Road. The remaining resurfacing program is being finalized and will consist of about 30 miles of chip and seal, with additional mileage spent on asphalt resurfacing, cold mix paving, edge paving and partial depth repairs. These projects will be up for bid in early spring with construction to begin in early summer.

In addition to county-managed projects, the county engineer works with Portage County’s 18 townships as their engineering adviser on maintenance, repair, widening and reconstruction of roads and bridges. This year, Jenkins is assisting with the reconstruction of Kent-Hudson Road in Franklin Township, Pioneer Trail in Mantua Township, Sixth & Ohio Road near Brady Lake in Franklin Township, and the LaBelle Heights drainage and resurfacing project in Paris Township.

Having received his civil engineering degree from Youngstown State University, Jenkins served as Wadsworth engineer for 25 years before coming to work for Marozzi in 2019. Although the county engineer’s job is a technical one, Ohio law makes it partisan. Marozzi, a Democrat, retired in the middle of his final four-year-term so the Portage County Democratic Party had the right to name a successor. It chose Jenkins.

“Being a county engineer is something I have always wanted to do, and I am so grateful to Mickey for putting his trust in me and the Portage County commissioners and the party for appointing me,” Jenkins said.

He plans to continue Marozzi’s departmental organization. His office employs 59, including 54 full-time workers. Jenkins recently hired Kelley Steigerwald to fill the role of assistant county engineer. A dedicated bridge crew of three, plus foreman Gary Ellison and bridge engineer William Vermes, keep after 172 county and township bridges.

Mike Collins, project manager, oversees grant writing to help fund maintenance, repair and new construction. Road crew foremen are Buc McBride, Rob Hanna and Keith Franko. John Trew is general superintendent. Doug DiMauro is sign shop supervisor and Dale Novak is the garage superintendent.

Leslie Froelich supervises the Portage County Tax Map Department. Four employees in the sign shop oversee about 5,400 county signs. Five part-timers handle call-in lines for any safety concerns.

“We want the public to be able to contact us for emergencies when they occur,” Jenkins said.

Annual operating costs are approaching $10 million. Funding mostly originates from two sources: 35% from the motor vehicle gas tax and 60% from local vehicle license plate fees. Ohio has increased the force account limit so that road construction projects costing less than $70,000 per mile and bridge projects of less than $230,000 can be done internally. The limit used to be $30,000 per mile for roads and $100,000 for bridges.

“This will save the taxpayers,” Jenkins said.

Marozzi served as Portage County engineer for almost 35 years. He rated roads as follows: Level 1 for roads carrying more than 1,600 vehicles daily, Level 2 for those carrying between 800 and 1,600 vehicles daily, and Level 3 for roads carrying 800 or fewer vehicles per day. A consultant has been hired to develop a condition assessment of all county roads. This information will help develop a plan for overall improvements.

Jenkins is on the November ballot for a four-year term beginning next year and faces no opposition in the March primary. A Newton Falls High School graduate, Jenkins and his wife, Melissa, chose Kent as their home nearly 30 years ago because it was a midpoint for their jobs, his in Wadsworth, hers as a school psychologist in Mahoning County. They have raised a family of four children, all graduates of Theodore Roosevelt High School.

“We both love living in a college town like Kent,” he said.

A dedicated runner who has competed in 15 marathons, Jenkins golfs, but the challenges of raising a family limited his playing time. Currently, running with his dogs and biking occupy what leisure time he has.

David E. Dix is a retired publisher of the Record-Courier.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Portage County Engineer Larry Jenkins outlines 2024 projects