Celebrates Significant Milestone in Main Street Corridor Project

Phase 1A of TIGER-funded project now complete; traffic patterns change

City of Akron Press Release
From the desk of Ellen Lander Nischt
Published: 12-21-2018

Akron, Ohio, December 21, 2018 – The City of Akron has extra reason to celebrate this holiday season as the Main Street Corridor project has reached a significant milestone in its progress with the “flip” from Phase 1A to Phase 1B taking place today.

This changeover marks the completion of the first half of the roundabout at Main and Mill Streets. The completion of Phase 1A also means a change to the traffic pattern on both Main and Mill Streets. A description of the various sub-phases is available here. Updated information about the project is regularly posted on www.driveakron.com. 

“Today’s milestone represents meaningful progress on this momentous renovation of our downtown corridor,” Mayor Dan Horrigan said. “The first portion of the roundabout at Main and Mill Streets is now finished, and the roundabout is expected to be complete in May 2019.”

“I extend my gratitude to all our businesses, workers, residents, and visitors for their continued patience as we completely recreate Main Street into a more beautiful, functional, and inviting corridor for all users,” Mayor Horrigan continued. “The temporary inconveniences of construction will be well worth it when this catalytic project is complete.  I encourage the community to continue to visit and support our incredible Main Street restaurants, bars and retailers, which are open for business throughout construction.” 

This afternoon (Friday, December 21, 2018), the northbound traffic will be shifted from the east side of the street over onto the newly paved west side, in the same direction. Traffic that is heading north on S. Main St. from W. Bowery St., and the traffic that is heading from the east and west on Mill St. to S. Main St., will enter into the new roundabout and travel clockwise around it to exit to the north up S. Main St.  Eastbound traffic will be detoured to E. Market, S. High St. and E. Mill St. Westbound traffic will be detoured north up to MLK Jr. Blvd. and to W. Mill St.  Southbound traffic will continue being detoured using S. High St.

The work on Main Street is a two-phase project and a direct result of two federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants and numerous local partnerships.

Phase 1 of the Main Street Corridor Project, which began July 2018, will reconstruct the South Main corridor width between Cedar and Mill Streets, including: new pavement with a lane dedicated to parking/buses/delivery vehicles, new sidewalks, a permanent bicycle track, upgraded underground utilities, upgraded traffic signal equipment, smart LED lighting, a roundabout at Main and Mill Streets, storm water management improvements, and a complete rebuild of the State Street bridge.

The City of Akron was awarded a second, $8 million TIGER grant in 2018 to help fund Phase 2 of the Main Street Corridor Project. Phase 2 will extend improvements to an additional segment of Main Street from Mill Street to Perkins Street/Route 59. It is the second phase of a 1.4-mile green corridor through the heart of the city. The stretch is designed to connect people to centers of education, employment, innovation, entrepreneurship, culture, entertainment and recreation.

The Main Street Corridor Project is designed to:

• Provide “Ladders of Opportunity” by increasing access to education, jobs and opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship

• Construct a welcoming gateway to those who live, work, play in Downtown Akron

• Transform the corridor with a context-sensitive design that enhances accessibility among all modes of transportation while increasing safety, productivity and public health

• Serve as a fulcrum that leverages private reinvestment to adjacent vacant and blighted structures and promotes the high-density, mixed-use development of underutilized parcels

• Steward ecological resources by increasing energy efficiency and incorporating green infrastructure

• Promote infill storefront redevelopment for local independent niche/boutique retailers by activating the streetscape and generating additional foot traffic in Downtown Akron

• Boost the efficiency of existing transportation investments by building on momentum resulting from recent adjacent infrastructure investments

• Produce a model for regional collaboration and strategic investment through synergetic public-private partnerships.

Throughout construction, the City will host various stakeholder engagement activities in collaboration with the Downtown Akron Partnership, to ensure sustained dialogue about the project and its impact on the downtown community.

For more information about the project, visit www.driveakron.com or contact Heather Bolestridge at 330-375-2501 or [email protected].

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For further information, contact:
Ellen Lander Nischt
Press Secretary / Assistant Director of Law
Phone: (330) 375-2325
E-mail: [email protected]