CLEVELAND — After decades of disagreement over congestion in Strongsville and Brunswick, the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) have announced a renewed effort to ease traffic near the Cuyahoga and Medina County lines.
The plan is to bring in a consultant to help improve traffic in and around the cities. The study area would be along I-71 bounded on the north by Pearl Road (U.S. 42), the south by SR 303, to the west by U.S. 42 and to the east by West 130th.
"I think that common ground that we all have here is that there is an issue out here that needs to be solved and that issue is congestion," ODOT press secretary Matt Bruning said.
For decades, Strongsville officials have pushed for an interchange at Boston Road to help ease the traffic on I-71 between Pearl Road and state route 303. But the city of Brunswick has strongly opposed the idea of an interchange, which would impact residents in the area.
"I think that’s what were trying to accomplish here with these next steps is to find a solution that hopefully most people can walk away from and say ‘this is the right path forward,’” Bruning said.
The Brunswick City Council released a statement Friday, supporting the independent traffic study and reiterating their opposition to an interchange that they said would "detrimentally" impact residents.
“Congestion continues to be an issue in this area, and ODOT is committed to working with all stakeholders involved to find a reasonable solution that everyone can agree with,” ODOT Director Dr. Jack Marchbanks said.
The agencies plan to hire a consultant to develop a congestion mitigation plan with the following goals in mind:
- Come up with conceptual alternatives to alleviate traffic congestion in the area.
- Analyze feasible alternatives.
- Develop a plan that identifies solutions to managing congestion in the study area.
The new plan comes after a recent preliminary feasibility study was performed by the City of Strongsville that looked at reducing congestion and decreasing crash frequency along the I-71 corridor as well as creating a new interchange at Boston Road. However, ODOT said the study "did not provide an obvious solution" and with Brunswick's strong opposition, "a new study is even more important."
NOACA officials say the study and plan development are expected to take up to two years. They hope to begin the plan later this year after NOACA votes to approve it at a board meeting in September.
Once the plan is complete, potential solutions may need to be reviewed and approved by the Federal Highway Administration. In addition, NOACA would also need to sign off on proceeding forward with environmental field studies, a public involvement plan, development of an alternative evaluation report and any other steps necessary for a preferred alternative.
“As the Metropolitan Planning Organization for greater Cleveland, NOACA’s interest is to address Strongsville’s congestion issues while not imposing a solution that is unwanted by another community. Consensus is the desired approach,” said NOACA Executive Director & CEO Grace Gallucci. “Our goal is to always enhance the quality of life in Northeast Ohio for all people.”