Maintenance of Solon Township roads is a combined effort between Solon Township and Kent County Road Commission.
Unpaved roads require continual maintenance, which is performed by Kent County Road Commission and paid entirely from the Solon Township General Fund. Once a street is paved, the county maintains it at their cost and on their schedule, such as the 18 Mile Road work performed last year. If residents do not feel the county’s maintenance schedule is adequate, the township residents would need to cover a portion of the repairs and maintenance that could amount to $125,000 for each 1 mile of road repaved, assuming no re-engineering would be necessary.
New pavement projects are cost-shared between the Township and Kent County Road Commission. For gravel-to-pavement construction, the shares equate to 45% coming from the road commission and 55% from the township. In 2016 Solon Township paid 55%, or $505,505, to pave 1.16 miles of Albrecht Avenue that made that road safe to use and allowed for a badly needed paved route to partially ease traffic on the ever-popular Algoma Avenue. The county paid the other 45%.
People often think their property taxes pay for road repair. That is not the case in Solon Township as we do not have a millage for road repair. If you’d like to see where your property tax money really goes, check out this information from our township treasurer – Property Tax 2018 Pie Chart.
Repair projects planned for 2019 and paid entirely from the Township General Fund are:
- minor construction and limestone resurfacing of Division to keep water from crossing the road and damage from prior flooding;
- normal annual dust control on several unpaved roads.
Paving projects planned by the Township and Road Commission for the next year and a half will more than use up the current street fund balance, which has been built back up to $434,931. The planned projects are:
- 16 Mile Road west of Algoma Avenue
- A portion of 21 Mile Road repair and reconstruction, which will be partially paid for with federal grant funds
When the street fund balance allows, Wiersma Road should be paved and then possibly Trenton and Division. Major repair is also needed on Simmons, Egner, 21 Mile, and many others as funds allow.
If anyone has questions or concerns about our roads, or any other township issue, your board members would be more than happy to discuss them with you!