Mayor Dan Horrigan announced Tuesday the city has opened two-way traffic from Perkins Street to Cedar Street — including the intersection of Main Street and Market Street — which was closed in January under Phase 2 of the project, to enable underground utility work.
For the time being, work will continue on Market Street while crosswalks and sidewalks are under construction. Traffic will be open, but routed to the north side of Market Street, the city said.
Phase 1, from July 2018 to last October, accounted for more than $30 million of the overall project, and stretched from Cedar Street to Mill Street.
“The improvements being made to our infrastructure downtown will last for generations to come, benefiting current and future Akronites,” Horrigan said in a release. “I’m proud of the progress we’ve made so far and look forward to the full completion of the downtown corridor improvements.”
Kicked off last October, Phase 2 is estimated to cost $14 million, with $8 million coming from a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation.
A rubber worker sculpture by Alan Cottrill was unveiled in May in downtown Akron. (Spectrum News/Jennifer Conn)
Phase 2 has continued the types of improvements made in Phase 1, and encompasses Mill Street to Market Street, the city said.
Phase 2 includes turn lanes at Market Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard/Ohio Route 59, and a lane on each side of the street for parallel parking, deliveries and buses.
The total Main Street Corridor project comprises complete reconstruction of Main Street, from Cedar Street to Martin Luther King Boulevard/Ohio Route 59, and from building front to building front.
The project features a green corridor along Main Street with green infrastructure throughout. Mid-block pedestrian crossings and new, on-street parking have been added, with dedicated vehicle lanes for parking, buses and deliveries.
A cycle track, smart LED lighting and new signage were installed. Stormwater management improvements, and transit and traffic-flow enhancements were also incorporated into the project, the city said.
In May, a roundabout was unveiled at Main and Mill streets, featuring a 12-foot tall bronze rubber worker statue created by Zanesville, Ohio sculptor Alan Cottrill. Akron was once home to largest tire manufacturers in the world.
To honor that history, the city partnered with Art x Love Agency to develop the Rubber Worker Stories Project. It includes an interactive kiosk at the northeast corner of the Main and Mill streets that displays audio/visual stories from rubber workers and their descendants.
Nearby, a walkway is underway using more than 1,000 engraved bricks that honor Akronites and their families who worked in the rubber industry. Online sale of the bricks is ongoing, with installation into the walkway extended into 2022, the city said.
