Cuyahoga Falls ponders returning cars to Front Street
Cuyahoga Falls, a small community about five miles from Akron, is considering making a huge change to its downtown area.
For 40 years, cars have been banned from Front Street, which was turned into a pedestrian shopping area in the 1970s. Now, the town's mayor, Don Walters, would like to allow autos back onto Front Street.
That the Cuyahoga Falls city council recently approved a study that would cost $73,000, and has as its object the effect bringing automobile traffic back to Front Street would have on the community and the businesses located on this thoroughfare.
Walters noted that the decision to close the street to cars was made when downtown areas throughout the country were failing. Today, many people are reversing the trend, preferring to live in urban areas rather than in the suburbs. However, without easy access to Front Street—which is the city's busiest—new businesses may not be able to attract customers. Currently, about half the storefronts in a four-block area downtown are vacant, and property owners are looking to the city to make changes.
The city has chosen MKSK Landscape Architects, a Columbus firm, to determine how returning cars to Front Street would affect traffic patterns in Cuyahoga Falls.
City officials might work with brochure printers on a booklet to mail to residents describing plans and detailing the impact changes could have on traffic.
For 40 years, cars have been banned from Front Street, which was turned into a pedestrian shopping area in the 1970s. Now, the town's mayor, Don Walters, would like to allow autos back onto Front Street.
That the Cuyahoga Falls city council recently approved a study that would cost $73,000, and has as its object the effect bringing automobile traffic back to Front Street would have on the community and the businesses located on this thoroughfare.
Walters noted that the decision to close the street to cars was made when downtown areas throughout the country were failing. Today, many people are reversing the trend, preferring to live in urban areas rather than in the suburbs. However, without easy access to Front Street—which is the city's busiest—new businesses may not be able to attract customers. Currently, about half the storefronts in a four-block area downtown are vacant, and property owners are looking to the city to make changes.
The city has chosen MKSK Landscape Architects, a Columbus firm, to determine how returning cars to Front Street would affect traffic patterns in Cuyahoga Falls.
City officials might work with brochure printers on a booklet to mail to residents describing plans and detailing the impact changes could have on traffic.