Comments received through Intergovernmental Review and Consultation (IGRC): Letter from City of Westlake Resolution to reject project can be viewed as a PDF file. Letter from City of Brunswick Resolution of Support can be viewed as a PDF file. Letter from Lorain County Board of Commissioners to Board members can be viewed as a PDF file. Letter from Lorain County Board of Commissioners can be viewed as a PDF file. Letter from City of Cleveland can be viewed as a PDF file. Letter from City of Avon can be viewed as a PDF file. Letter from State Representative, 57th House District can be viewed as a PDF file. Letter from City of Avon Lake, Lorain County can be viewed as a PDF file. "It is stated succinctly that the new interchange is to be constructed using "local funds". What about the costs of maintaining the new infrastructure for the rest of time? If the SR- 615 (Mentor) experience is any indication, vast amounts (tens of millions of dollars) of public funds were needed to widen I-90 after theat new interchange was opened. Will "local funds" pay these costs? If the Polaris (Columbus-far north side) interchange is any indication, major improvements will be needed to the arterials and city streets leading to and from the interchange. Will "local funds" pay these costs? It is difficult to comprehend how our region will benefit from more highway capacity and new access when our region has not been growing for thirty or more years. Is transplanting people and jobs and prosperity from one place to another a regional public benefit? Is commuting longer distances suddenly a sustainable thing to pursue? A decade ago, Governor Voinovich's Farmland Preservation Task Force pointed out that agricultural land was being used up far faster than the population was growing. The Northeast Ohio Regional Retail Analysis from August 2000 completed by the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission pointed out the then-existing over-retailing within the region and the damage caused by sprawl to the economy and the environment. Was that learned study considered by NOACA and its consultants? NOACA's recent D.B. Hart study claims that losses to existing neighborhoods will be made up by back-filling and other relocations. That may be true only if Class C commercial users like check-cashing businesses are considered to be equal to those businesses that will be departing. Will Avon's "local funds" be made available to replenish the tax bases that do not benefit from the predicted "back-filling?" With all due respect to the proponents, promoting more sprawl is not good public policy. The slim assurance that the"construction" of the interchange will be paid for with local funds does not overcome its many weaknesses. The property tax base and sales tax base of Cuyahoga County, especially its west side, will not benefit from building up an undeveloped area. Further economic erosion will occur. If this interchange is considered a necessity, now would be a good time to adopt tax base sharing in addition to the local funding being provided to cover a fraction of the true regional costs." - Cuyahoga County Department of Development “My understanding from the earlier Engineering Study is that the LOS (Level of Service) for the intersections East or West indicates a new interchange is warranted. Lorain County supports this interchange. I have been involved with companies coming to several Lorain County Communities. The typical reasons for leaving includes: Poor ability to ship goods on existing roadways, they are locked and can not expand; they have had several additions to their current facility and they have floor elevations that don’t line up so moving good in the plant are difficult and costly. Let’s not lose sight that Lorain County has businesses that need the ability to ship goods on an easily accessible roadway. We need this interchange.” - Lorain County Planning Department "On behalf of the City of North Ridgeville, I would like to add my support to the proposed Avon Interchange at Nagel and I-90. Currently we have one North/South route connecting Route 10/I-480 to I-90. Providing an interchange at Nagel Road will provide a second route which will also provide easy access to the Ohio Turnpike at Interchange No. 152. Many of our residents commute to Cuyahoga County on a daily basis. Many of them use South Lear Nagle in North Ridgeville to access I-480 to make the commute. Undoubtedly, this interchange will provide an easier, alternate access which would alleviate some of the traffic currently on Lear Nagle. Of course, we also expect to see some increased traffic on North Lear Nagle due to the new interchange, and hope that widening and rehabilitating the northern portion of Lear Nagle will be given future consideration." - City of North Ridgeville Letter from City of Westlake's Planning and Economic Development can be viewed as a PDF file. "The Lorain County Planning Commission is in support of this project and feels that this interchange is vital to reducing traffic congestion in the rapidly growing Avon/Avon Lake area." - Lorain County Community Development Department "NOACA should do everything possible to fast track this project onto the 2030 Connections Plan. Private project funding and private/public partnerships are the future of transportation projects that have significant economic impacts. I have no doubt that the study will show economic impacts. Constructive criticism that improves the project is welcome, but opponents must examine their motives and be careful not to become anti-regional." - Lake County Engineer Department “I understand that I am late with this official reply from Lorain County Planning Commission concerning the Avon interchange project. Please forgive my tardiness. In my position with Lorain County I am responsible both for County wide Planning as well as County wide Economic Development, so my comments will represent both areas of specialty. The County has been invited to and attended meetings concerning this interchange dating back to 2001. The public meeting process has been open and fair to all involved. Despite the comments often heard, Cuyahoga County, Avon Lake, Westlake, Bay Village and others have been invited and have participated in these meetings. I applaud Avon City and the TransSystems for their open meeting process. Susan and her staff have been very diligent with their evaluation and public comments through the ODOT approved PDP. From a Planning process the City has completed everything it needs to as a good and complete planning effort. As an economic development issue, Crocker Bassett interchange is at capacity, SR83 is the same and both are getting worse. Business’s such as Henkle, with operations in at least Georgia, Ohio, California and Canada are known world wide for their excellent product. They need quicker highway access for their highway shipments. Jenne Distributing is a provider of communications systems and training world wide. This Avon company is “home grown” and needs to expand. They need a location with highway access. Pettie’s is the newest operation in Avon and like most other businesses in the area have voiced their support for this proposed interchange. We have three of the four most critical economic development needs – water, sewer and electric - we need safe and easy highway access. Lorain County Planning Commission, Lorain County Commissioners and the Lorain County Economic Development staff supports the need and location for this proposed interchange. The method of payment should make it easier for the roadway to be built under the current TIP process since no federal dollars are needed. We support the request for an Economic Impact study for this project, assuming that all similar projects in the future will require to the same type study. I appreciate your consideration of these comments as this project continues through the NOACA process." - Lorain County Planning Commission "For the sake of congestion mitigation I would support the Lear Nagle interchange. From Lorain County Transit’s point of view, we have some resources that we could bring to the proposed location. We have a community connector, our county-wide Dial-A-Ride service and a possible commuter fixed route service that could be made available to that area. However, because of recent budget cuts we don’t have the ability to provide much more service than that. The City of Avon has established a park-n-ride lot with a bus shelter at Route 83 and Chester Road which our fixed route commuter uses six times per weekday. The proposed development is only about two miles from this Chester Road location. Route 83 and I-90 is extremely congested, especially at rush hour times. I believe it is mostly due to the large number of houses that have been constructed in Avon and Avon Lake in recent years. The commercial developments of Avon Commons, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Perkins Restaurant, French Creek Square and the strip shopping center on Center across from Wal-Mart also contribute to the heavy congestion. The proposed development might just do the same thing at Lear Nagle. If the Lear Nagle area gets developed I guess the question would be will you just end up with two highly congested areas instead of one." - Lorain County Transit "The Appendix C - Zoning Maps dated April 14, 2006 is a little out of date. Since that time the Avon City Council rezoned 218 acres to C-4 Commercial zoning district adjacent to the proposed interchange at Lear Nagle. Attached is a map provided to us by the City of Avon and a copy of the approved ordinance for the rezoning. The appendix C shows the land industrial." - City of Westlake Planning Commission "Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this Avon project. As a 45 year former resident and city council member of Avon Lake and with family still in Avon Lake and Avon I think this interchange is greatly needed. My husband is still employed in Avon Lake and travels to Avon Lake every day. We have lived in Medina County for 19 years now and over that period of time at least 10 new traffic lights have been added along Ohio 83. The development of Avon at the I-90 interchange has greatly impacted the area while bringing new business and tax base to this once rural community. The continued development of Avon Lake also has had its impact on traffic at the Ohio 83 and I-90 interchange. Diverting traffic into the area via another interchange and allowing the traffic to disperse before it gets to Ohio 83 would very much help residents and businesses alike. No one likes to sit in traffic so that they can just go to the grocery store. This interchange is long time in coming and very good for not only Avon and Avon Lake but the surrounding communities whos residents use the roads to conduct their daily business. That being said there could be the further impact of potential new business at the new interchange site which could have more traffic impact on Avon and the surrounding communities." - Montville Township Zoning "The Lorain County Metro Parks working in conjunction with the cities of Avon Lake, Avon and North Ridgeville have been striving to connect these communities with a bike path system throughout northeastern Lorain County. The proposed interstate exit along I-90 offers the single most important link in this system. This interchange must include a bike path linking Avon Lake to Avon along the north south line. The current exits along I-90 do not allow for safe bicycle movement. The proper planning for pedestrians and vehicles will greatly enhance this region." - Lorain County Metro Parks "The County Engineer is in full support of the City of Avon's proposal to construct an interchange on Interstate 90 at Nagel Road. The growth that the City of Avon has seen as well as Avon Lake to the north and North Ridgeville to the south, has created traffic congestion on State Route 83 at the existing 90 Interchange. This growth is expected to continue and the improved access to 1-90 that the Nagel interchange would provide is greatly needed. Interstate 90 was completed to Cleveland in the 70's and despite the growth we have seen in Lorain County no additional interchanges have been added to the highway in our County since the initial construction. There is approximately 3.7 miles between the interchange at Crocker Road in the City of Westlake and the interchange at State Route 83 in Avon. This distance compares with 0.62 miles, 1.37 miles, and 0.88 miles as the distances between the next 3 interchanges to the east in Cuyahoga County. The next interchange to the west is 1.94 miles to Colorado Avenue. Nagel Road is a major north/south corridor through Lorain County connecting 1-90 with U. S. Route 20 and 1-480 to the south and is a logical location for a new interchange. The interchange is proposed to be constructed with local and private funds and will not impact the County's ability to attract federal funding for other needed infrastructure projects. We feel this project is needed and correct for the existing and future transportation needs of the County." - Lorain County Engineer Public Involvement: Please notify us if you would like to be added to our e-mail notification list for future updates.