NOACA to Host Public Meetings on Adding Lanes to I-71 in Medina County

Should there be three lanes on Interstate-71 throughout Medina County? Here’s a chance to voice your opinion.

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, (NOACA) will hold two public meetings to receive public comment regarding the proposal to add a third lane to I-71 from SR-303 to I-76 in Medina County. The project was officially requested by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), in response to a State law directing ODOT to provide this additional lane.

NOACA, the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for the five-county region (Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina), is responsible for maintaining the region’s Transportation Plan, which must be amended to reflect this project. The plan, Framework for Action 2025 (FFA 2025), must be amended whenever a project increases the capacity of the region’s transportation system.

The meetings will be held at the following locations:

Wednesday, October 8, 2003
Brunswick City Hall
4095 Center Road
5:00 - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, October 15, 2003
NOACA Offices
1299 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio
5:00 - 7:00 pm


For the NOACA meeting on October 15, parking will be available in the Cleveland Muni lot on Superior Avenue just east of the NOACA office. You can download a direction map, transit routes or parking to our office.

Information on the proposed project can be found on the NOACA website at www.noaca.org. For those unable to attend either of the above meetings, comments may be submitted directly through the website, faxed to NOACA at 216.621.3024, or phoned into a special hotline, 216.241.2414 extension 303.

Comments received by October 15, 2003 will be summarized and forwarded to the NOACA Transportation Advisory Committee for consideration as the committee makes a recommendation to the NOACA Board. NOACA will continue to accept comments until November 7, 2003 and will forward them to the NOACA Board for consideration in making its final decision on the Plan amendment.

If you have an opinion on this issue, make sure your voice is heard! Attend one of these meetings and participate in the region’s transportation planning process.