BRUNSWICK, Ohio — Brunswick neighbors are pushing back against a proposed controversial road project.
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In recent weeks, lawn signs have been appearing in yards along Boston Road and the adjacent neighborhoods. White letters on a blue background tell drivers and passersby, “Say no to the Boston Road interchange.”
The street divides Strongsville to the north and Brunswick to the south. Neighbors on both sides can recall discussions dating back several decades about adding highway access from the residential road.
“This isn’t a Brunswick vs. Strongsville football game. It’s our lives, our livelihoods and our lives and our future,” said Mike Kellums.
He and his wife Shrea have lived in their Boston Rd. home for close to three decades. They noted both cities have grown and changed over the years. Now they worry the proposed highway interchange would be a detriment to the neighborhood.
“One of our concerns is the amount of traffic it would bring unnecessarily,” Kellums said. “And our house value would obviously plummet.”
Funding for the interchange was included in a provision of the $13.5 billion transportation budget passed in late March. Proponents say an additional highway access point is sorely needed to mitigate congestion and safety concerns.
“I-71 was built in the late 50s when Strongsville and Brunswick had just a few thousand people apiece. It was all farmland back then,” State Rep. Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) told News 5 in March, explaining the population of Strongsville is now near 50,000 and Brunswick is above 35,000.
The five mile stretch of I-71 between Route 82 in Strongsville and Route 303 in Brunswick is among the longest in Ohio and Patton said the volume of cars using the current Strongsville exit has created a safety hazard.
The Strongsville representative, who is also the chair of the House Finance Subcommittee on Transportation, added language to the transportation bill requiring ODOT to ensure there is limited access on and off ramps every 4.5 miles on the interstate between cities with more than 35,000 people when at least one of the cities is in a county with more than one million people.
“If you look at it, it’s basically specific to 82 and Boston Road,” said Kellums.
He and others have criticized the way in which the measure moved forward at the state level. Before Governor Mike DeWine signed the budget into law, he addressed the provision.
“Containing language like this in a bill is not the conventional way that interchanges occur in the state of Ohio or anything else in regard to transportation. We have a procedure to be followed. This did not follow that procedure,” DeWine said.
In addition to placing signs in yards, a growing number of neighbors opposing the interchange have attended public comment periods at both Strongsville and Brunswick City Council meetings. Monday, about a half dozen people shared their opinions.
“It’s hard to consider watching your home destroyed [for] the sake of someone spending 15 to 20 minutes less on the highway,” said one woman.
A man added, “I live on the south end of the city. I’m not going to see the increased traffic that the north end of the city is. I’m opposed to this because of what it’s going to do to the city budget and the city services.”
Another neighbor, Jeff Moulden, said, “I have a 6-year-old and I don’t want him playing out in the street, even in our neighborhood, because there’s going to be people cutting through to get to other parts of Brunswick and Strongsville if there’s a ramp there.”
Brunswick city leaders have fiercely opposed the interchange. Before the transportation budget was signed into law, the City Council passed a resolution declaring its opposition.
“This is going to take constant pressure. This is going to take constant work. And we’re going to have to work together,” City Council President Nicholas Hanek told the audience Monday.
Strongsville City Council President Jim Carbone was not available for an on-camera interview Monday but spoke to News 5 over the phone. He said many of the neighbors’ concerns are assumptions because it’s too early to know what such a project would look like.
Patton said a feasibility study will wrap up within the coming weeks and provide more insight into the need and challenges of adding an interchange at Boston Road.
Carbone said after NOACA reviews the study findings, the city will solicit feedback from neighbors in both communities.
At the Strongsville City Council meeting on May 1 he told project opponents, “I think I can speak for everybody here. We’re going to do our due diligence, we’re going to look through these engineering plans and see where our next step is from there. You have that promise from us.”
