The mission of the Springfield Township Highway Department is to provide the best service for the lowest cost to the Taxpayers of our Township.
We will continually work to improve the quality of life for our residents by meeting the service needs expressed, maintaining clean, safe, hazard-free roadways, and working to provide the highest level of service, while recognizing that our employees are our most valuable asset in the delivery of these promises to the taxpayers and motorists that place their trust and well being in us.
Overview
The Springfield Township Highway Maintenance Department has four full-time snow plow drivers with approximately 140 lane miles of roads to plow and salt. The township is divided into four districts. Each driver is responsible for clearing snow and ice for nearly 35 lane miles of road.
Public Reminders
Since it is very difficult to maneuver large equipment on some of the area roads, we request that residents not park on the roads during snow removal. Also, please keep a safe distance from the trucks so that drivers can see you in their mirrors.
We urge you once again to keep drainage ditches free of leaves and debris. After heavy rains, the leaves accumulate plugging driveway pipes, crossovers, catch basins, etc., and reducing drainage under roads. Without proper drainage, the sub-base deteriorates, creating potholes and ultimately costs you, the taxpayer, money to remedy the situation. So please do your part to help eliminate problems before they occur.
Roadside Ditches
The Highway Maintenance Department has received numerous calls about enclosing roadside ditches. At the present time we are not permitting any roadside ditches to be enclosed. There are several reasons for this decision:
Storm Water Management - If we were to pipe all of the ditches in Springfield Township, there would be considerable downstream flooding. Currently our roadside ditches retain water and release slowly.
Clean Water Act - The glass of water you drink today may be the same glass your great-grandchildren will drink. This sounds impossible, but we only have so much fresh water on this planet. Piping water directly off of roads into rivers gives water no chance of purifying itself.
Sub-Base Drainage - This is probably the most important to the township. For the simple reason that it saves the taxpayer money. Township roads are designed with ditches to drain any water that gets under the pavement. When water is trapped under a pavement, it softens the sub-base creating pavement failure. Also, water freezes in the winter and creates potholes.
Governing Entities of Highways
Recently the Highway Maintenance Department has received many calls concerning maintenance of State Route (SR)224 and some of the county roads. In Springfield Township there are three government entities that maintain the highway system:
State - Ohio Department of Transportation maintains SR241, SR224, and a short section of Canton Road north of SR224.
Summit County - Engineer maintains:
Albrecht
Arlington
Canton Road south of SR224
East Waterloo
Killian
Krumroy
Mayfair
Myersville
Pickle
Pressler
Sanitarium
Township - Springfield Township maintains all remaining dedicated streets
The easiest way to tell that it is not a township road is that if the road has been striped (with the exception of Lake Road) it is not a township highway.