KENT, Ohio — Kent’s worst crash corridor will soon receive major renovations.
“A lot of the times, traffic gets overwhelming, especially since with a lot of the festivals on the weekends,” said Squirrel City Jewelers owner Michael Faehnel.
The community said the problem area is on Kent’s one-mile stretch of East Main Street, where Kent State University sits along with other commercial and local businesses.
“If it’s not someone looking for a parking spot, very often I’ll see someone trying to back out of the parking spot, and because of the sharp incline and how narrow everything is, they might accidentally get rear-ended,” said Off the Wagon Merchandising Manager, Jake Ball.
With Squirrel City Jewelers and Off the Wagon being right on the corner of East Main Street, the two businesses said this area is very busy, and they believe these renovations will solve a lot of problems.
“I think renovating it would continue to make downtown an even better place,” Ball said.
City Engineer Jim Bowling said the city, Kent State University and other community partners have been working for more than five years to make improvements after Kent was called the worst crash corridor in Summit and Portage Counties from 2014 to 2018.
“We heard from discussions with the public for a couple of years that basically no one really likes using the roadway, whether they're driving their car, they're walking, or they're riding the bike, it's stressful for all of them,” Bowling said.
Bowling said the city had funding to make East Main Street safer and more comfortable up until the inflation spike, which forced them to pause their efforts.
But now, with this last $5 million federal grant, Bowling says the city can move forward with its plan to make some of the following improvements like changing the five-lane road to a three-lane boulevard with three signals, two roundabouts, a bike trail, wider sidewalks and six mid-block pedestrian crossings.
“These renovations will help a lot, especially with keeping people and small kids safe as they cross the street,” Bowling said.
The more than $25 million project is still in the very beginning stages, with work expected to begin in 2025.
“We’re just hoping that the improvements will make it easier for everyone,” Faehnel said.
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