AKRON, Ohio — Akron Mayor Shammas Malik announced the city is investing $1 million into repairing and replacing dilapidated sidewalks this year.
In addition to other sidewalk projects and studies being done in the city, this brings the total investment into the cities walkways to $2.27 million. Akron is also investing more than $5 million into its local resurfacing program, which will cover 14 miles of carryover work and 34 miles of new roadways.
“Akron has made a lot of progress in recent years when it comes to the condition of our sidewalks and our roads,” said Malik. “We’ve increased investment in these important infrastructure projects to address some of the biggest concerns we hear from our residents. Whether you’re walking to the store, biking to work, dropping your kids off at school, or simply getting from point a to point b, you need even sidewalks and smooth roads to have the best trip possible. There’s always more work to be done for a city which faces Ohio winters but we’re making more progress each year and we’re excited for the 2025 sidewalk and resurfacing programs.”
Malik explained in a release that at the beginning of his term, the city was about three years behind in addressing requests for the city’s sidewalk program. With this investment, the city is caught up through July 2024 requests, Malik said. Requests after that through now will get added to next year’s list.
While Akron is focused on the regular sidewalk program, it’s also giving attention to the Portage Trail West Sidewalk construction, which will create a new sidewalk between the Treetop Trail/Waterford Court to Portage Path.
Malik said the full resurfacing list for this year, as well as alternates, will be finalized in the spring.
