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Governing Board Action: February 11, 2005

At today’s NOACA Board meeting, members approved the Tier I and Tier II lists of major transportation investments to be implemented in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties over the next 20 years. These projects, which are a major part of the regional Transportation Plan, will now undergo transportation air quality conformity analysis to ensure their construction will not degrade Northeast Ohio’s air quality. Tier I projects typically are those that add capacity to the transportation system. However, non-capacity, operational improvements such as rail station renovation and transit center construction may also be on Tier I if they have a committed funding source. Sample projects from the Tier I list include:

  • Reconstruct the Innerbelt Curve and add lanes to Innerbelt in Cleveland
  • Reconstruct I-71 and add lanes from SR-3 to the Wayne/Medina county line in Medina County
  • Reconstruct SR-2 and add lanes from E. 361st Street to St. Clair Street in Lake County
  • Implement an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) for freeways in Cuyahoga County
  • Construct a new railroad underpass at Nottingham/Dille Road in Cuyahoga County
  • Reconstruct and widen Lear Nagle Road from Lorain Road to Center Ridge Road in Lorain County
    • Construct a new transit center near Parmatown Shopping Center in Cuyahoga County (project sponsor: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority).
Board president Robert C. Klaiber announced chairperson appointments for NOACA’s standing committees, subcommittees and task forces. Committee chairs include:
  • Transportation Advisory Committee: Mark W. Ricchiuto, Public Service Director, City of Cleveland
  • Environmental Advisory Committee: Lydia F. Champlin, Mayor, Village of Chagrin Falls
  • Planning Advisory Committee: Stephen D. Hambley, Medina County Commissioner
Board members approved a resolution supporting the City of Cleveland’s Waterfront District Plan. The Plan, developed over the past three years, is a land use plan containing proposals for roadway and pedestrian improvements. Many of these proposed projects may eventually become part of NOACA’s long-range Transportation Plan.

The Board adopted an interim air quality conformity analysis for NOACA’s 2002 Transportation Plan and the State Fiscal Years 2004 – 2007 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). In April 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated the NOACA five-county area (plus Ashtabula, Portage and Summit counties) a “moderate nonattainment area” for ozone, because ozone levels are higher than allowed under new U.S. EPA standards. NOACA, in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS), conducted the analysis and found that the region’s plans and Transportation Improvement Programs meet the transitional conformity requirements.

Board members also authorized continuing NOACA staff technical assistance for the City of Brunswick’s transit system, a service that NOACA has provided since 1988. The contract will allow NOACA staff to continue assisting the Brunswick Transit Alternative for five more years.