Mary Petrella has seen potholes patched and speed bumps raised in her 25 years on Hiawatha Street in North Linden, but she has never seen a road crew grind away the imperfections and lay down fresh pavement.

Mary Petrella has seen potholes patched and speed bumps raised in her 25 years on Hiawatha Street in North Linden, but she has never seen a road crew grind away the imperfections and lay down fresh pavement.

�It seems like we�re kind of neglected. It�s in bad shape,� said Petrella, 78.

Her street hasn�t been resurfaced since 1985, but that is to change under the city�s paving plan this year.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman�s 2014 capital budget will include about $33 million to repave 231 streets, including Hiawatha, Azelda Avenue in Petrella�s subdivision and dozens of other roads that total 233 lane miles in all corners of the city. Columbus has more than 6,000 lane miles.

The city has devoted about $146 million to resurfacing since 2010, including this year. But a 2009 study found that Columbus needed to spend about $60 million a year to maintain its streets.

�We�re going to do as many as we can,� said Rick Tilton, assistant director of the Department of Public Service.

The capital budget should be introduced this month and requires the Columbus City Council�s approval, but the city is already taking bids from paving companies. Kokosing Construction Co. was the winning bidder on the first package of streets.

A request for bidders went out early this year to ensure that work would be completed before the end of 2014. The early onset of winter last year delayed repaving of 25 streets, including Bethel Road and High Street. Tilton said work will continue on those this year.

The 2014 package is divided into four clusters that mix large arterials with residential repaving. Busy streets receive special attention because their higher traffic volumes and speeds are rough on pavement, Tilton said.

�We look at the big picture of the city and try to balance fairly the number of streets ... so not any one section of the city gets more than another,� he said.

When the city repaves a street, it grinds down the surface and replaces at least 11/2 inches of asphalt. Curbs and ramps also are repaired during resurfacing.

Some streets haven�t been repaved for decades. Hiawatha is part of a six-street neighborhood that has been patched but not repaved since the 1980s. Palmetto Street between Westmoor and Roys avenues on the Hilltop was last resurfaced in 1988. Elizabeth Avenue between Fair Avenue and Main Street on the East Side haven�t been touched since 1992.

All of those streets are on the 2014 list, along with arterial streets in all four corners of Columbus, including Brice Road near the I-70 overpass and Bethel Road east of Olentangy River Road.

Bethel is to be repaved between Olentangy River and Pickforde Drive this year. The road has potholes big enough to swallow truck tires and spit them back out with bent rims, said Travis Pack, who works at a tire shop on Bethel.

The city also is to resurface parts of N. Hamilton, Sawmill, and Brice roads along with Sullivant Avenue on top of dozens of other streets, including Petrella�s street.

�I�ll be glad to be seeing it done,� she said.

rrouan@dispatch.com

@RickRouan

@Crawlumbus