The city is considering widening exit and entrance ramps at I-71 and Snow Road, plus altering Engle Road as part of the traffic changes.
The City of Brook Park in Ohio is considering a project exceeding $70 million to enhance traffic infrastructure around the future Cleveland Browns domed stadium.
Mayor Edward Orcutt presented new proposals to the city council, urging their endorsement for an application to secure state transportation funding.
The city intends to seek funding from the Ohio Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) to enhance roadways capable of accommodating the expected rise in traffic due to the stadium and mixed-use development.
Though Orcutt says the Brook Park City Service Department is not ready to release exact renderings of the traffic changes, he told the council these changes are being considered:
- Widening the I-71 NB Exit Ramp at Snow Road by one lane
- Widening the I-71 SB Entrance Ramp on Snow Road
- Constructing an elevated exit ramp off I-71 SB to allow traffic to move over the railroad tracks
- Altering Engle Road to more easily lead into the proposed stadium development
“We’re doing a lot of things here in Brook Park, and we believe we have a strong case to be able to get this application to the Board,” Orcutt said.
Council members questioned the impact the construction might have on local residents.
“Are we gonna get layouts of this? Number one, layouts, and it won’t affect housing, anything of that sort, right?” asked Ward 2 Councilman Jim Mencini.
Orcutt responded that the city has enough space for the improvements and that no residential properties would be affected. However, he acknowledged that there are currently no public renderings available due to confidentiality agreements.
“There’s NDAs everywhere that have been signed with different companies and the Cleveland Browns. So there’s nothing that we can show at this point right now,” Orcutt said.
Council members also raised concerns about how the traffic changes would coordinate with the recently announced redevelopment at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which includes a new terminal and redesigned roadways.
Orcutt said the city is considering the airport construction in its planning process and has conducted traffic studies using high-impact scenarios, such as Thursday night football games and weekday concerts.
“We start at, ‘What’s the worst-case scenario?’ Thursday night football, or a big concert during the week when people work till 5:00 at night, they get off and we know that’s going to be our worst. So we’re working with that, and then working backwards and trying to figure out all the different problems that may be around here,” he said.
Brook Park City Council voted Tuesday to schedule the first reading of the resolution for May 20. If passed, the resolution would signal the council’s support for the traffic plan in the state funding application.
