AMATS OKs millions for roadwork in Summit, Portage, Wayne counties
Roadwork in Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Stow are among seven projects that will get the bulk of $21 million in federal funds approved for reconstruction work starting in the next several years.
Also, two dozen resurfacing projects throughout the region will get $14.8 million in funding and another $4.1 million will go for bike trails and sidewalks, under resolutions approved Thursday, Jan. 27, by the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study.
More: By car, bicycle or bus, here's how planners would spend $7.7 billion on Akron area by 2045
The planning agency oversees spending of nearly $40 million under three federal funding programs in Portage and Summit counties and part of Wayne County. Funding for projects from 2025 to 2028 was approved last week by the AMATS policy committee.
The reconstruction projects in Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Stow are getting $16.8 million funded through the federal Surface Transportation Block Grant Program.
Just over $2.3 million was awarded to rebuild Arlington Road in Green. The project will widen the road from two to four lanes from Boettler Road to September Drive.
Streetsboro will receive just over $1 million to rebuild the intersection at state Routes 14 and 43. Other intersection improvements received funding: About $300,000 for the Highland/Valley View Road intersection in Macedonia and about $400,000 for turn lanes at the state Route 91/Terex Road intersection in Hudson.
Darrow Road ranks top priority
The city of Stow will get $4.5 million to rebuild Darrow Road from the southern border north to around Norton Road. The work will include complete reconstruction, adding a sidewalk/shared-use path, a bus pull-off lane and shelters near Commerce Drive, and upgraded traffic signals. The total project cost is estimated at $7.1 million.
City Engineer Jim McCleary said the city spent at least $100,000 on the road last year just to keep it driveable.
"The road was put in in the '70s, there are storm sewers that need to be rebuilt, there are curbs that need to be rebuilt," he said. "The roadway needs to be rebuilt. There's different kinds of pavement, there have been repairs. The brick is coming up in some areas. The brick needs to be removed."
While there is a sidewalk on one side of the street, the project would add a sidewalk to the other side, along with a shared-use path.
He said that with the funding award, the city can move forward on designing the improvements, in coordination with the Ohio Department of Transportation.
"It's going to be a great project," he added.
East Market Street overhaul
Of all projects to be awarded funding, East Market Street in Akron got the most, with $6.1 million toward the project's $18.7 million cost.
The work will include full-depth pavement reconstruction, concrete curbs and sidewalks from state Route 8 east to Case Avenue. The road will get a new striping configuration, including crosswalks.
Michael Teodecki, engineering design division manager with the city, said the work will link to recent improvements made on East Market Street from Kelly Avenue to Goodyear Boulevard.
"The new project goes from Route 8 to Case Avenue, but we definitely want to make sure we take care of any deficiencies from Case to Goodyear Boulevard. The focus is really Route 8 all the way east."
He said the project is timed to start in 2026-27, adding the city is seeking more funding to deal with high-crash areas.
"We're continuing to study the roadway and traffic flows. There's some high-crash areas — at Market at Arlington and up the road at East Buchtel and at East Exchange. We're going to prepare an application to the state to get some safety money to fix the high-crash areas," he said.
Wyoga Lake Road
Cuyahoga Falls is slated to get $6.1 million to rebuild a 1.5-mile stretch of Wyoga Lake Road from East Steels Corners to Seasons roads. The total project cost is $8.2 million.
Cuyahoga Falls City Engineer Tony Demasi said the rebuild, planned for 2026, will extend south of a project the city expects to complete in the next few years in the area where State, East Steels Corners and Wyoga Lake roads intersect.
"We call that the triangle project, but that's going to happen much sooner than this project," he said. "We're going to put a center turn lane in there to allow people to get out of the main line of traffic and make left turns. We're also going to put in traffic signals where they're warranted."
Those new intersections would likely be at the entrance to Walsh Jesuit High School, he said. Plans are also to extend a multipurpose path from Hardman Drive northward.
Resurfacing
The AMATS Resurfacing Program will provide nearly $14.9 million for 24 resurfacing projects, several of which are sponsored by county engineers' offices throughout the region.
AMATS allocated $787,000 toward each of the following repaving projects:
• Valley View Road from Dunham Road to Olde Eight Road in Sagamore Hills Township.
• Valley View Road in Hudson from the city's northern border to Route 91. (Macedonia was awarded $282,000 for the repaving of Valley View Road from Twinsburg Road south to the Hudson line.)
• Glenwood Drive from Ravenna Road to Route 91 in Twinsburg. (The city also was awarded $522,000 to repave Highland Road from Hadden Drive to Route 91.)
• Bailey Road from Front Street to Graham Road in Cuyahoga Falls.
• Hudson Drive from Front Street to Graham Road in Cuyahoga Falls.
• Graham Road from 750 feet east of Darrow Road to Newcomer Road in Stow.
• Cleveland-Massillon Road from Ridgewood Road to Kuhmo Drive and Springside Drive to 200 feet south of Ghent Road in Fairlawn.
• Cleveland-Massillon Road from the northern border to Interstate 76 in Norton.
• Cleveland-Massillon Road from Grill Road to Serfass Road in New Franklin ($700,000).
• Greenwich Road from South Medina Line Road to Cleveland-Massillon Road in Norton.
• South Main Street from 790 feet south of Caston Road to state Route 619 in Green.
• South Main Street in Coventry Township from the Green corporate line to Warner Road.
• Albrecht Avenue from Stull Avenue by Hillside Memorial Park to the Portage County Line in Mogadore.
Other Summit County repaving projects include:
Just over $400,000 to repave Miller Road from Ridgewood Road to West Market Street in Akron.
Hudson was awarded $439,000 to repave East Barlow Road from the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks to Stow Road.
Barberton was awarded just under $500,000 to resurface Norton Avenue from Barber Road/Fourth Street to the west corporate line.
Portage, Wayne county repaving
The Portage County Engineer's Office was awarded $321,000 to repave Cleveland Road in Ravenna Township from the Ravenna city border to Route 14, and $614,000 to repave Ravenna/Diagonal Road from Route 43 to Brady Lake Road in Franklin Township.
Streetsboro was awarded $461,000 to repave Frost Road from Route 43 to Page Road.
Ravenna was awarded $247,000 to repave South Prospect Street from Main Street to the city's southern border.
Wayne County will receive more than $508,000 for a project on Doylestown Road and Portage Street in Chippewa Township.
Rittman in Wayne County was awarded $400,000 to repave South Main Street.
Trails, sidewalks
The area's trail and sidewalk networks will continue to expand as six projects totaling nearly $4.2 million will receive funding from the federal Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TASA) Program.
The TASA Program provides funding for projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities that provide transportation alternatives to motor vehicles. AMATS awarded a maximum of $700,000 for the following projects:
• Phase 2 of the Rubber City Heritage Trail in Akron, extending from the Exchange Street/Arlington Street intersection north.
• A section of the Veterans Trail in Hudson and Stow extending from Barlow Road along the existing railroad line to Springdale Road in Stow.
More: Veterans Trail linking Akron to Hudson proposed, but completion could take decades
• Sidewalks along Darrow Road in Stow from Lillian Road to Fishcreek Road.
• Sidewalks along Springside Drive in the Montrose area of Bath Township.
• Pedestrian improvements along East Main Street (state Route 59) in Kent.
• The Heartland Trail project in Wayne County, which will construct a new multipurpose trail with berms wide enough to accommodate horse-drawn buggies, ($659,000).
Tables detailing projects that will receive Surface Transportation Block Grant, Resurfacing and TASA funds are available at amatsplanning.org.
Eric Marotta can be reached at 330-541-9433, or emarotta@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: AMATS OKs millions for roadwork in Summit, Portage, Wayne counties
