One of the things we hear the most complaints from readers about is the state of the streets in Ironton and need to have them paved.

Fortunately, it appears there is now some major movement to ease those concerns.

In August, an announcement came for a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. These funds will go toward fixing some sewer and water lines around the South Ironton Industrial Park and then paving South Third Street, one of the areas residents have been most vocal about.

These funds will be matched by $400,000 from the city.

And in today’s paper, Mayor Sam Cramblit spoke about Phase I, which will focus on the high-traffic roads that do not qualify for federal funds.

The city and the KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission have studied which are most in need and the city plans to spend $1 million on this effort.

While the roads have been frustrating, city leaders have taken the right steps, determining which streets qualify for a grant, while saving the city’s paving funds for the remainder.

This way, the maximum amount of improvements can be done and no funds are wasted on roads that could be covered by federal funds.

These are long-awaited projects that will make residents here happy to see move forward and we commend the city government for bringing this about.