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Governing Board Action: October 12, 2007:
NOACA Governing Board Approves Adding Avon Interchange to Region’s Long-Range Transportation Plan

Today, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) Governing Board approved adding a new interchange at I-90 and Nagel Road to the region’s long-range transportation plan, Connections 2030. NOACA Governing Board President Robert N. Brown called for the issue to be decided by a weighted vote, which gives Board members voting power proportional to the population they represent in NOACA’s five-county region. The resulting tally from the weighted votes cast included 47.1 votes for the interchange, 2.85 opposed, and 6 abstentions.

Action to approve the Avon interchange had been postponed from the Governing Board’s September 14, 2007, meeting to give Board members more time to review the findings of an economic impact study commissioned by the Board’s Executive Committee. Over the past month, Governing Board members worked to develop a resolution that would satisfy the concerns and needs of all parties, especially Cleveland and west-side Cuyahoga County communities that feared a new interchange might shift economic development opportunities away from older communities and the urban core.

The revised resolution approved today by the NOACA Governing Board adds the interchange to the long-range transportation plan as long as the following conditions are met:

  • A Joint Economic Development Zone is established in Avon, wherein future tax and economic development benefits would be shared with adjacent communities in Lorain and Cuyahoga counties;
  • Transit access and new facilities will be considered in the development of the new interchange; and
  • Pedestrian and bicycle accommodations along Nagel Road in the vicinity of the new interchange are considered.
The revised resolution may be reviewed on NOACA’s Web site.

“This is a historic occasion,” noted Brown, Planning Director for Cleveland and NOACA Governing Board president. “I am impressed with the cooperative spirit of officials in the affected communities to discuss the key issues and develop workable solutions for this proposal. This work will set a precedent for how NOACA handles these kinds of issues in the future.”

The Governing Board’s approval of the resolution also verifies that the project has successfully completed Project Planning Review (PPR), a process that includes comments from NOACA staff, committee, government agency, and the public. Comments sent to NOACA concerning the Avon interchange project have been posted on NOACA’s Web site.

In other business, the Board approved the agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Overall Work Program (OWP) closeout report. The report summarizes the projects, studies, maps and other products completed by NOACA staff during the past fiscal year, from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007. FY 2007 OWP products are available on the NOACA Web site, as well as on a compact disk that was distributed at today’s meeting.

In addition, the Board awarded the City of Cleveland Heights $75,000 to perform a traffic study of Cedar Hill/Fairmount Boulevard as part of NOACA’s Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative (TLCI). NOACA annually funds planning projects that improve economic viability, safety and overall livability in Northeast Ohio communities under the TLCI.

The Board also presented a resolution of appreciation to Erwin J. Odeal, director of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and long-time NOACA Governing Board member, who is retiring on December 31, 2007, after 33 years of service with the sewer district.