County engineer highlights Issue 2 renewal, paving progress and salt-reduction grant in roads report

Clermont County Engineer Jeremy Evans presented the county's annual Roads and Bridges report to the Clermont County Board of Commissioners on April 30, outlining recent paving and bridge work, the May 6 ballot renewal of the Ohio Public Works capital program (Issue 2), winter maintenance costs and a new state grant to reduce chloride from road salt.

The report matters because it frames near-term road funding choices, shows how federal and state grant dollars have been used locally, and outlines operational changes intended to reduce environmental impacts from deicing salts.

Evans told commissioners the statewide Issue 2 program — which the county uses for landslide, bridge and other infrastructure projects — is a renewal, not a tax increase. "This is a renewal. This is not a tax increase, and it's not like a typical levy," he said, noting the program is administered by the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) and routed through regional district committees that vote on awards. Evans said the county sees an average of about $4,000,000 per year from OPWC awards to local governments in the district that includes Clermont County.

On condition metrics, Evans reported Clermont County maintains roughly 383 miles of county roads and said the average condition rating has improved in recent years, crediting American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds the commissioners allocated. He said the county is currently on a roughly 22-year paving cycle overall but has been able to achieve about a 12-year cycle in recent years with extra funding. In 2024 the engineer's office resurfaced roughly 27 miles of road and said the office has resurfaced nearly half the county's road mileage in the past five years.

Evans said the county now catalogs 430 structures that meet the county's definition of a bridge (span greater than 10 feet) and that the number of load-restricted bridges has fallen from 45 in 2019 to 28. He highlighted recent federal grant awards that enabled bridge work and said culvert condition ratings rose modestly to 7.9 from 7.8.

On winter operations, Evans summarized 2024 figures: crews used about 3,700 tons of rock salt and 13,800 gallons of liquid deicer; labor for snow response totaled nearly 4,700 hours and crews drove over 43,000 miles for snow events. Total winter cost for the county in the period covered by the report was about $600,000; Evans said an average event this year ran roughly $50,000 but that figure can vary year to year.

The report emphasized efforts to reduce chloride inputs to waterways. The board approved an Ohio EPA H2Ohio Rivers Initiative grant award for $64,600 that will fund a brine-maker, three 5,000-gallon storage tanks and truck-fill equipment for county use. In explaining the grant's intended effect, Evans and other staff said the brine system mixes liquid deicer on site and allows earlier and more effective applications, reducing salt bounce and waste; Evans said there can be roughly a 30% reduction in rock-salt use when liquid strategies are implemented and used appropriately.

Evans also reviewed capital projects planned for 2025: about 30 miles of resurfacing are planned along with subbase repairs on three roads, an aggressive bridge program with multiple projects bid this year and a $2.7 million landslide program funded through OPWC. He reiterated the engineer's continuing partnership offers to townships and villages for joint resurfacing efforts and noted vehicle-license fees and the county's share of fuel tax remain stable revenue sources for the office.

The board accepted the annual report later in the meeting by formal motion.

Looking ahead, Evans urged voters to consider the Issue 2 renewal on the May 6 ballot and said district-level committees — not a central office in Columbus — review and recommend projects for OPWC awards.