Politics & Government

State, Feds Approve Land Swap Key to Kent Redevelopment

City will take possession of right-of-way land along both sides of Haymaker Parkway downtown

The puzzle that is downtown Kent's massive redevelopment effort is starting to come together, and state and federal authorities just handed the city a very big piece.

Both the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration have signed off on a request from the city to take ownership of the public right-of-way property on both sides of Haymaker Parkway.

By taking ownership of the right-of-way from the state, the city will be able to tie together several transportation projects as part of the downtown redevelopment efforts.

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Having control of the land lets the city connect the driveway of with Haymaker Parkway, tie in Kent State University's extension of The Esplanade by vacating East Erie Street, construct an extension of The Portage Hike and Bike Trail alongside the roadway and build a new community sign at the corner of South Water Street and Haymaker Parkway.

Being responsible for the right of way also allows the city to remove the chain-link fence added in the 1970s when the Haymaker Parkway bypass was built. Its designation as a limited-access highway required the fence, which many saw as the final physical divide separating downtown from Kent State and its adjacent neighborhoods.

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"Almost every one of those things were transportation improvements, which (ODOT's) limited access did not allow us to build," Kent Engineer Jim Bowling said. He has been working on the request to attain the right-of-way for the past 2 and-a-half years.

Bowling called it "a momentous day" when he learned both state and federal authorities granted the city's request.

Current plans show the university extending The Esplanade to East Erie Street, building the pedestrian path in the Erie Street right of way and creating brick-paved pedestrian crossings to link the campus to the transit center and downtown.

said removing the fence and building a safe pedestrian crossing at the bypass will improve the appearance and accessibility of downtown.

“I think it’s fantastic, and I think it’s very essential to establishing the link between the university and the downtown," she said. “Just establishing that link between The Esplanade and the downtown is just so key to the success of our economic development plan.”

ODOT officials signed off on the right-of-way request in November and asked federal transportation officials to follow suit. The state transportation agency supported the request for five reasons, according to an ODOT memo.

  1. The right-of-way will not be needed for state highway purposes in the foreseable future.
  2. The present right of way roadway space is adequate for present-day standards.
  3. Releasing the small portion of land to the city will not adversely affect Haymaker Parkway or its traffic.
  4. The state doesn't need the land for retention or preservation of scenic beauty adjacent to the highway.
  5. The land is not adjoining any land that could be used to preserve natural beauty or extend a public park and has no foreseeable value for such purposes.

Federal officials approved the city's request in a Jan. 3 memo sent to ODOT. The approval comes with one condition, Bowling said. If a private landowner or entity wants to create an access break for a driveway onto the bypass, the private entity must pay the city for the cost of the work and the city must then use those funds for transportation improvements in Kent.

The city will not officially take possession of the right-of-way land for a few months.

Kent City Manager Dave Ruller spoke cautiously about the approval because the city has not received formal approval letters directly from both ODOT and the FHA.

"But if indeed we get all the approvals, it is critical to accomplishing the physical reconnection between the downtown central business district and the campus," he said in an e-mail. "The master plan uses The Esplanade as a direct path and getting across Haymaker was always considered a challenge, but I think the plans do a great job of overcoming what seems to have been the great divide ever since Haymaker was built.

"We're encouraged that the federal and state agencies recognize the opportunities to be gained by the reconnection, and I think it is the most critical element to the entire downtown concept," Ruller said. "It's the spine from which everything else is built off of."


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