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Cuyahoga Falls -- The city will pay GGC of Painesville $145,000 to finish its work on the design and engineering of State Road and Portage Trail relative to Stark Enterprises' construction of Portage Crossing.
City Council voted 8-1 June 1 to approve the payment. In March members had approved spending $50,000 for GGC to begin design work, while Wells & Associates of Virginia prepared a study on how the new retail development would impact traffic.
Council decided to delay paying the full $195,000 amount until they saw the results of the traffic study.
Although two members of Council voiced concerns over how traffic flow will be affected by the planned changes at State Road and Portage Trail, and Portage Trail and Lillis Drive, most comments June 1 on Portage Crossing were positive.
"I like the project," said Councilwoman Mary Ellen Pyke (R-2), "but I'm concerned about that 600 feet of Portage Trail where you've narrowed it. I want to love it, but I'm having trouble embracing it."
Developer Bob Stark said he will not widen Portage Trail. "If we widen it, we take these fronts out of contact with each other, and we make it non-pedestrian," he said referring to storefronts on both sides of the streets. "[Then] it's not intimate enough, it's not connected -- the touchy-feely goes away."
"It's hard for all of us to abandon the idea that's been so ingrained in our heads for years that we've got to get cars through everywhere as quick as possible," said Mayor Don Robart. "... We're trying to create a place where people don't want to go through as fast as possible." Robart said it's difficult to "sell" this idea before Portage Crossing is built.
Stark Enterprises plans to break ground in late 2010 or early 2011, said Steve Rubin, the firm's chief operating officer.
The city hopes to apply for a grant for more than $1 million from the Ohio Public Works Commission, said City Engineer Tony Demasi. The deadline is June 30, Demasi said, and engineering information has to be submitted with the application. Demasi said 60 to 65 percent of GGC's work will be completed by that time.
Council will vote June 14 on a resolution to request OPWC funding to "enhance and improve" State Road and Portage Trail near the proposed Portage Crossing "to allow better vehicular and pedestrian traffic into and around the new development using boulevards, traffic calming devices, street lighting, signage, landscaping, pavement markings and signal upgrades."
Pyke at first voted "no" June 1 along with Mark Ihasz (D-4), for a 7-2 tally, but after Law Director Virgil Arrington said eight votes were needed for the ordinance to immediately take effect, and the delay could jeopardize state funding, a second vote was taken and Pyke voted in favor. Councilmembers Carol Klinger (R-at large) and Ken Barnhart (R-3) were absent.
"Reducing the through lanes from four to three [on Portage Trail], between Lillis Drive and State Road, with the addition of on street parking, just doesn't make sense," Ihasz told the Falls News-Press. Ihasz said the traffic impact study shows traffic in this area is going to increase when Portage Crossing is finished. Ihasz noted that, according to the traffic study, "We are increasing the traffic by 150 cars daily during rush hours and another 165 on Saturday, and we narrow the road."
"I am for the development of Portage Crossing and I hope it succeeds," Ihasz added.
"I'm glad about what's going on a little bit west of me," said Mario Caponi, co-owner of Rocco's Pizza on Portage Trail, the street where he's lived and worked for 48 years. "I think it will be the beginning of not only the revitalization of the State Road Shopping Center but the revitalization of Portage Trail," he said. |
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