LAKEWOOD, Ohio — If you drive on Bunts Road, you'll notice dozens of signs making it clear they're unhappy with the potential for a multi-use path in their neighborhood.
We first told you of residential concerns in February.
RELATED: One of Lakewood's busiest streets might be getting a bike lane
According to the City of Lakewood, Bunts Road will be rehabilitated from Lakewood Heights Boulevard to Clifton Boulevard in two phases.
Improvements would address the deteriorated pavement, curbs and sidewalks, long pedestrian crossing distances, Clean Water Lakewood, consent decree sewer improvement requirements, aging water main infrastructure, surface drainage, street lighting, bicycle lanes, aging signage, and other appurtenances.
The improvements sound like music to the ears of Bunts Road residents, minus the bike lanes.
"We have been fighting this for probably about a year now, actually almost to the day because we found out on May 7th of last year through a community meeting that [Lakewood City Council] already had two plans, that they were ready to pick one and that was the first Bunts Road residents had ever heard of this multi-use path," Shannon Mortland told me on Monday.
The bicycle lane would be a 10-foot-wide path on both the east and west sides of Bunts Road.
"[It] is really the same size as a vehicle traffic lane. They've got to cut short the tree lawns on both sides, which means losing over 100 trees," Mortland said.
Lakewood City Councilman-At-Large Tom Bullock said the project has been in the works for a couple of years, but Mortland said residents' concerns have seemingly never been cared for throughout the process.
"I understand how they feel and they have a point, It's our job to be representatives," Bullock stated.
While Bullock said the project has been approved in various ways and continues to be worked on with the state and county governments, who share the cost in the design decisions, "you can always decide to cancel a project or change it (although changes get more difficult as time passes)."
"You can always make changes. I think if I was wearing a different hat, if I was one of the people certified to work with state government, they would say hey wait a minute. It's almost like a medical diagnosis. I guess my perspective is we gotta work with the residents. We gotta listen to the residents," Bullock said.
If there are no changes to the project, Bullock said it will be granted to move full steam ahead.
However, he's working to schedule a meeting between Bunts Road residents and the city to make sure each request is heard and considered.
"A colleague and I are working to do our best to try to get their concerns heard and see if we can get a meeting with the city and work through a list of concerns and see if at least on some of these we could hear what the requests are and make some improvements," Bullock noted.
Mortland said a meeting would be a step in the right direction, and she's grateful one is even being considered.
"We're so grateful for Tom Bullock and Angelina Hamilton Steiner. They've been listening to us from the beginning and they're really trying to help us as much as they can and just listen to all the residents and not just a small special interest group, which is what we feel has happened so far and why this path has gotten to the point that it has," Mortland said.
In the meantime, Mortland and several other Bunts Road residents will continue showing up to Lakewood City Council meetings, like Monday night's.
"We just can't stop now. This is our street. This is our livelihood. We put a lot of money into our homes. We like living here. We don't want to see them ruined by another asphalt path," Mortland explained.
A petition against the multi-purpose path is also making the rounds, and according to Mortland, it has received more than 800 signatures as of Monday morning. It was started in late 2024.
"We really concentrated on Bunts at first and so we've got well over 100 households on Bunts who have signed it that we know of and then the people keep coming out of the woodwork. We looked up the people who own the rentals and sent them letters and they're signing for us," Mortland said.
Mortland said as residents continue pushing for the elimination of the multi-purpose path project, her message to City Council is simple: "Stop and slow down, use common sense and just listen. If you're listening, you'll make a better decision."
We'll continue to follow through.
