A public open house took place on Monday, March 27, at Royal Redeemer Church, hosted by the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works, regarding the widening and reconstruction of sections of Royalton Road between West 130th Street and York Road. The meeting was held to explain the project and upcoming tasks that will be taking place, including right-of-way acquisition.
The project will begin just west of the Walnut Hills Drive/Rt. 82 intersection and continue east to just west of the York Road/Rt. 82 intersection. Matthew Wahl, Senior Project Manager and Associate Vice President of HNTB said that design phase is about 95% complete. HNTB is the design engineer for the project. Wahl said that land acquisition is expected to begin shortly and will take about a year to complete. In early 2018 the trees in the area will be removed. He noted that in government projects, trees can only be cut from October to April, in order to protect nesting bats. Utility and prep work is expected to start in the fall of 2018. “The project will be broken into two sections,” said Wahl. The first, which will be in 2019, will be from Abbey Road, west. In 2020, the section of Abbey Road, east will be done.” Traffic and driveway entry will be maintained throughout the entire project.
The project will convert the current Rt. 82 area from a two lane road to a three lane road, with six-foot sidewalks and seven-foot tree lawns on each side, as well as two 15-foot lanes and an 11-foot turning lane, completing a span of 78 feet. The lanes will be wider than what is currently there.
The Royalton Road widening project is one of five transportation projects that the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is looking for funding. The NOACA Board voted to apply for funding through the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority. The Port Authority would then issue bonds on behalf of NOACA. The West 130th to York Road portion of the Royalton Road project is being sponsored by Cuyahoga County and estimated at $14.5 million for construction and construction administration costs.
The ultimate widening of Royalton Road will be done in three phases, with this first section between West 130th Street to York Road. The subsequent sections of Rt. 82 will then be widened, between York and Ridge Roads, and Ridge Road to the North Royalton eastern border with Broadview Heights. The widening project is also expected to include widening intersections, traffic light improvement, installation of storm sewers, culvert improvement/replacement, sanitary improvement and storm water detention basin construction.
NOACA, is an environmental and transportation planning agency that represents the state, as well as cities, villages and townships in Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Lorain and Medina counties.
According to agency officials, “the agency and its partners cooperatively develop and implement plans to ensure that travel throughout the region is safe, cost-effective and environmentally sound. NOACA’s vision is to strengthen regional cohesion, preserve existing infrastructure, and BUILD a sustainable multimodal transportation system to support economic development and ENHANCE quality of life in Northeast Ohio.”

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer