New Philadelphia, Ohio (WJER) - City leaders are trying to make the most of the money available to them as street paving season approaches. 

New Philadelphia Service Director Ron McAbier says they’ve settled on a list of seven areas that need the most attention in the city. He says completing those as well as the five-mile state Route 416 paving project that was put on hold last year should help drivers out after winter took its toll on the roads.

“That’s on top. It would get paved this year. It was supposed to get done last year if you remember but for sure it’ll be a nice summer and nice roads on a big part of town,” he says.

McAbier says the city was able to afford $400,000 worth of paving this year, which he says leaves a number of problem areas that still need to be addressed. But he says he’s hopeful the state’s gas tax increase will change that in the future.

“Early numbers show that we should roughly gain $420,000. You could double the budget just in paving, which is huge,” he says. “Really, that needs to be the numbers that you have year after year to try to make a dent in the paving."

McAbier expects this year’s work to take about two-weeks once work begins. That includes paving parts of Mill Avenue near the mall, Third Street NW, and Fifth Drive from West High to Ashwood Lane, among others. 

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