In January Mayor Malik presented the Capitol Investment and Community Development Program, also known as Capital Budget to City Council for approval. This year‘s plan totals $341,909,940 and covers everything from transportation, water and sewer, parks and recreation facilities, public safety, economic development, and housing and community services. This year’s budget is $39 million less than 2015, as we need to tighten spending with rising costs and the possible loss of federal funding portion on projects from Washington.
Some highlights are in transportation; allocating $6.5 million for resurfacing that will cover approximately 52 miles of Akron roads. We’ve got $1 million slated for sidewalk replacement again this year and $6.17million for parks improvements and projects. There’s also $500,000 for traffic calming( speeding/safety) throughout the city. We are hampered in planning more for community development and housing as there is literally no guarantee of federal housing or block grant funds from Washington at this time.
Some of the Ward 8 highlights include a Merriman Valley Mobility Study to compliment the Master Plan, Akron Peninsula Rd Multi Use Trail, connecting residents north of Portage Trail with businesses and the Towpath (pulled last year due to lack of grant funding). And finally, Wendling Drive in the Bathcrest development will be completely rebuilt along with some patch and match concrete street repairs. This concrete slab street has been a mess for years, we patched it up last spring, but it is dangerous and needs replaced.
Council goes through this budget line by line in 3 hour sessions with every department, asking questions, and making adjustments where we can. Once passed and approved, this is still fluid document as plans change I will monitor and work to bring funds from stalled or cancelled projects back to Ward 8. You can view The 2026 Capital Budget here: