Representatives from Brunswick and Strongsville share perspectives on potential Boston Road interchange

COLUMBUS — Representatives from Brunswick stated their support for repealing a provision that has the potential to create an Interstate 71 interchange on Boston Road while Strongsville representatives opposed the repeal. People on both sides testified Wednesday before the Senate Transportation Committee during the fourth hearing of Senate Bill 155. Strongsville Economic Development Director Brent Painter shared the same testimony that Strongsville Mayor Tom Perciak did on Tuesday when he testified before the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee. The intersection of state Route 82 and Howe Road has a high crash frequency and frequently has heavy traffic, Painter said. Therefore, Strongsville seeks to create a new access or interchange to alleviate congestion. Brunswick cast doubt on the need. "The city of Strongsville has since announced, at the same site of Route 82 and I-71, they have been engaging in one of the largest development projects in their history, revamping South Park Mall, adding in additional buildings without any mention whatsoever of a traffic concern holding them up," Brunswick Vice Mayor Nick Hanek said. But Painter said the provision in House Bill 23, which requires building interchanges under certain conditions, is what will bring entities like the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and the Ohio Department of Transportation to the table to address traffic issues in the area by conducting a feasibility study. Yet, NOACA Executive Director Grace Gallucci submitted written testimony for Wednesday's hearing in support of the repeal. "This (House Bill 23) provision appears to have been initiated on behalf of one community that proposes the development of a new interstate highway interchange over the objection of an impacted community and impacted county that strongly object to this proposal," she wrote. The possibility of an interchange has caused anxiety for residents around Boston Road, and forced Brunswick to prepare for the impacts of moving a jet fuel pipeline and the financial cost, Hanek said. "It stands to reason if you are a resident or located in a county outside of a major metropolitan area that you should fear the kind of government that will openly and publicly discuss the sudden taking of your property for their own purposes," he said. "This is a law that hurts Ohio." Hanek said Strongsville already came out with a study which showed an interchange on Boston Road will not solve the existing traffic problems in the area. Painter said that was a traffic study rather than a feasibility study, which would determine through data if an interchange is necessary and where it should be located. "You're saying to do a feasibility study and what was done was not a feasibility study," Sen. Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said. "It's been brought to my attention that the front page of the study says it's a feasibility study, so there's that." State Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, said there is already an established process to create an interstate highway exchange. The Transportation Review Advisory Committee was created to remove politics from the decision and use factual evidence instead. "If you take (House) Bill (23) to its logical extent and further extend, do we risk having a complete breakdown in how we judge public improvements?" he said. "It gets back to the old days where those with political power got what they wanted, and those without political power didn't get what they wanted across this whole state of Ohio." Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 23 into law on March 31, 2023. Section 5501.60 of the bill mandates the existence of an interstate highway exchange every 4.5 miles under the following conditions: Both neighboring municipalities have a population of more than 35,000, according to the most recent census. The municipalities are in different counties. At least one of the counties has a population of more than 1 million, according to the most recent census. Therefore, under the current law, it is mandated that an interchange be built on Boston Road, Drake Road or Grafton Road. Miller, state Rep. Sharon Ray, R-Wadsworth, and state Sen. Mark Romanchuk, R-Ontario, introduced legislation to repeal the section of House Bill 23 during a news conference on Sept. 14. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.