The average condition of Cincinnati's roads is sitting at bare minimum — and the city's Department of Transportation and Engineering says without increases in maintenance funding, it could get worse.
DOTE Director John Brazina told Cincinnati City Council Tuesday that the department inspects the city's 2,892 lane miles of roads and rates them on a scale of 100. A score of 65 is considered "fair" condition — the lowest the city's average road condition should be.
That's where the overall rating of Cincinnati's roads are now, according to DOTE's annual report delivered Tuesday. But they could fall below that without more funding.
"We get approximately $20 million a year — we really need $30 million to maintain that 65 average," Brazina told Council. "Over the next few years, as our funding level continues, that 65 may start to slip."
DOTE's report shows the increasing gap in overall funding for the maintenance of city roads, 106 bridges and 264 walls it performs upkeep on. In fiscal year 2025, the gap will be less than $30 million. But by fiscal year 2029, it's projected to grow to $140 million.
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"The big takeaway here is that our capital needs to meet our stated condition goals are outpacing the funding we get," DOTE Deputy Director Greg Long told Council. "Across all of our capital needs, the accumulated funding gap is sharply increasing over the next six-year planning period."
Some of the increase is due to inflation. But much of it is the piling up of deferred maintenance that can't be performed in any given year with the funding available. The department currently follows a practice of fixing infrastructure in the worst condition first.
Brazina points out that DOTE often uses city funds to provide local matches for state and federal grants for specific projects, multiplying the resources it has available. From 2022 to 2023, it won 87 of those grants for a total of $255 million. That's a good thing when the grants are available, but it keeps the department dependent on outside sources.
The money doesn't just go to road maintenance. It also funds maintenance and repair of bridges, walls, traffic signals and street lighting. DOTE is meeting its goals in those areas. City bridges, for example, have received a rating of 6.7 over the past few years — above the city's stated minimum rating of 6. About 93% of the walls DOTE maintains are in good shape — above the city's goal of 80%.
The city used to set a goal of paving 100 lane miles of road every year. Brazina says at a current cost of $500,000 a lane mile, that goal simply isn't attainable right now.
There is some potential help on the horizon. The city finalized the sale of the Cincinnati Southern railroad in March for $1.6 billion and invested the proceeds. The dividends on that investment — expected to be about $55 million a year depending on the market — will be available for the fiscal year 2026 budget, which starts July 1, 2025.
That money is bound by Ohio law to be used for various infrastructure upkeep. A plan provided by the City Manager's Office prior to the finalization of the sale indicated about $101 million would be earmarked for transportation infrastructure over a decade. City administration is working on further plans now to address infrastructure spending.
"Concerning — that's an understatement," Council member Jeff Cramerding said about the maintenance funding gap. "As the gaps get bigger and bigger, I think it will be important to come back when we're talking about allocating the railroad dollars — and presumably putting more money into streets — to see how these gaps shrink and where we're at at that juncture... we're at a critical point where we can't go below this point."