Community Corner

Traffic Advisory: DePeyster Closes Today for PARTA Groundbreaking

South DePeyster Street between Main Street and Haymaker Parkway will close between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.

South DePeyster Street will close today between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. for groundbreaking ceremonies scheduled for the .

The $26 million project, planned by the , was originally scheduled for a groundbreaking in October, but land acquisition and other elements of the project delayed the groundbreaking.

Ceremonies are expected to start at 11 a.m. at the project site, which spans Erie Street between South DePeyster Street and Haymaker Parkway.

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The combined transit center and parking facility will include 10 bus transfer bays for PARTA buses and more than 300 public parking spaces. The facility is expected to include as much as 22,000 square feet of first-floor retail and commercial space.

The city, which is paying about $4 million to construct two upper parking floors of the facility, is planning to sign an agreement with PARTA that spells out how the facility will be managed. A .

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The project has largely been made possible thanks to a $20 million federal transportation grant.

PARTA announced Friday the agency selected Quandel Group Inc. to serve as the construction manager for the project.

More than 12 companies submitted proposals to manage construction of the transit center. Quandel has offices throughout the mid-Atlantic, including in Columbus and Cincinnati.

“I feel we made a good choice in the end,” John Drew Jr., PARTA’s general manager, said in a press release. “Quandel had experience with this type of building and with the federal funding requirements that PARTA must adhere to in constructing the Kent Central Gateway.”

In addition to providing much-needed parking downtown, the transit center will improve the connections between city neighborhoods, Kent State’s campus and the downtown. It will enhance bicycle and pedestrian linkages throughout the Kent area, support economic development, and create opportunities for new community amenities, according to PARTA.

More information, including details about bidding on work for the project, are available online at www.kentcentralgateway.com.


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