After several years in the making, East Main Street will receive an all new look as construction unfolds in a collaborative project between the city of Kent and Kent State.
The project will add a roundabout on East Main Street at the intersection of South Willow Street and Haymaker Parkway, and another at the Horning Road intersection. Other changes include: four electric vehicle charging stations for public use, additional bus pull-offs and shelters, a shared path trail for pedestrians and bikers and more.
Jim Bowling, the city of Kent superintendent of engineering, spearheaded the project for the city. He said its origins date back to 2017, when local residents north of East Main Street voiced their frustrations with the large amounts of traffic cutting through their neighborhoods to avoid congestion. At the same time, Kent State was also in the process of looking for ways to improve East Main Street for safety reasons.
“We found in this area a joint priority and vision for both the Kent and Kent State communities,” Bowling said. “We’re doing this together.”
Improving safety was another key priority for the project due to the number of accidents across the nearly mile-long stretch between the South Willow Street and Horning Road intersections, according to Doug Pearson, associate vice president for facilities, planning and operations.
Pearson and Bowling compared this project to previous construction on Summit Street, which also worked to reduce crashes and improve safety. Since then, that project has proven to be a success, as data has shown a 60% reduction in crashes since 2018, according to Bowling. Currently, the East Main Street safety analysis anticipates a 23% reduction in crashes after the project’s completion.
“We have accident data going back a number of years, and that stretch of East Main Street has the most accidents in the city of Kent,” Pearson said. “We’re very confident this will improve pedestrian and vehicular safety.”
The project was made possible by federal and state highway funding as well as grants from Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority. The total budget for the project is currently $31 million, Bowling said.
Construction is set to begin as early as July or as late as the fall, according to Bowling and Pearson. The construction process is set to last three years.
The road will still be open during the construction process, but drivers can expect additional congestion during busier times of the day. Pearson is hopeful that previous experience with Summit Street construction will make the process go smoother.
“We have the benefit that the city and university partnered when they rebuilt Summit Street, and it’s a similar project,” he said. “It’s still a construction job, and there’ll be things that we have to adjust to as we go through the project.”
While the construction process will take time and may temporarily frustrate local residents, Bowling believes the project will improve community satisfaction, solve an issue plaguing residents and become a longstanding piece of infrastructure in Kent.
“I’m excited to see the change and do what we’re hoping, which is to reduce stress for everybody who’s using the road, whether it’s a biker, pedestrian or driver,” he said. “What’s being built out there, we expect it to be there for 100 years or longer.”
For more information on the project visit: https://www.kentohio.gov/business-building-development/engineering/current-engineering-projects/east-main-street-project/
John Engoglia is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
