CLEVELAND — A powerful state council will meet next week to pick winners and losers for major transportation funding — including roadwork to support a new suburban Browns stadium.
Public records show Ohio Department of Transportation staffers are suggesting a $35 million award for Brook Park. That’s nearly a quarter of the $150 million that the state’s Transportation Review Advisory Council, or TRAC, is expected to award this spring.
The ODOT staff recommendations are just that — guidance, based on the agency’s analysis. The TRAC will make the final call. The nine-member body is set to create a draft funding list Wednesday, during a meeting in Columbus, and will accept public comments before making final funding decisions in late April.
But the recommendations, part of a document obtained by News 5 through a public records request, offer a glimpse at what the state might chip in to support the team’s move to the suburbs — beyond a $600 million grant for the stadium itself.
Brook Park applied for $70.3 million in competitive state funding last year to pay for road changes and other public-infrastructure upgrades near the future stadium site.
RELATED: Brook Park, Browns make their pitch for $70.3 million in state transportation money
ODOT staffers are suggesting half that amount. And they say the state money should be used only for roads maintained by the state. That means the freeway ramps at Interstate 71 and Snow Road, and not the local streets Brook Park wants to simplify and widen.
The Brook Park roadwork got the highest score — and the most money — on ODOT’s suggestion list.
Staffers recommended funding for a handful of other new construction projects, including $10 million toward the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s efforts to rebuild the Rapid train tracks east of Downtown Cleveland and $5.3 million for a project on State Route 172 in Stark County.
TRAC is weighing 27 applications for transportation-project funding, totaling $674.3 million in requests. That means many projects won’t get money in this round. Projects that miss out or only receive partial funding can reapply.
The General Assembly created TRAC in 1997 to develop and oversee the process of awarding public money for major regional and state transportation projects. The council is led by ODOT Director Pamela Boratyn. The governor and legislative leaders pick the other eight members, who represent different regions of the state.
The body isn’t obligated to accept recommendations from ODOT’s staff, but those suggestions typically are part of the decision-making process.
During a recent interview, Brook Park Mayor Edward Orcutt said he’s been able to meet with Boratyn and her team and provide updates during the review process.
“We feel confident,” Orcutt said earlier this month.
Brook Park is also pursuing a $25 million federal grant to help pay for road upgrades near the stadium site. Browns owner Haslam Sports Group is paying for design work and a team of consultants focused on traffic, roads, sidewalks and a proposed pedestrian bridge.
RELATED: Brook Park seeks federal grant to help pay for road upgrades around future stadium site
The $70.3 million lineup of public-infrastructure projects includes adding a left turn lane to the I-71 northbound exit ramp at Snow; reconfiguring the I-71 southbound ramp to Snow and Engle roads, with a flyover bridge that will reach over railroad tracks; simplifying a snarl of local streets around the site; widening Engle; and building a pedestrian bridge to the stadium district over Engle, near Hummel Road.
Separately, Haslam Sports Group wants to see a new Rapid station get built on the west side of the site. But that station, with a potential price tag of $40 million, isn’t part of the city’s state or federal funding requests.
RTA officials have said the agency won’t pay to build a new station when there’s an existing Rapid station on nearby Brookpark Road.
Michelle Jarboe is the business growth and development reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @MJarboe or email her at Michelle.Jarboe@wews.com.
