State Road Widening Project Underway

Construction crews have embarked on a two-year project to widen State Road by 10 feet from Graham to Quick Road.

To pay for the $9.1 million project, the city received $7 million in Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) and Federal Highway Administration grants, and has allocated $2 million of its own money, said Cuyahoga Falls Engineer Tony Demasi.

ODOT chose the Carvo Paving Company to undertake the job.

Crews started work on the project near Family Video on State Road in June, and as of July 12, they were busy with water line and storm sewer work, said engineering aid Jim Clark.

The project will create two five-foot bike lanes on State Road, sidewalks on each side of the road, four new right-turn lanes and extended turn lanes, said Demasi.

Right turn lanes will be installed at:

Bath Road heading northbound on State Road
Steels Corners Road heading northbound on State Road
State Road heading westbound on Steels Corners Road
State Road heading eastbound on Steels Corners Road
In addition, the timing of traffic lights will be synced to better circulate the flow of traffic.

Since 2006, Demasi has been working closely with URS Corporation consultants and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to determine how best to alleviate heavy traffic congestion along the corridor.

Demasi predicts the project will be complete by spring or summer of 2015 and said northbound and southbound traffic will remain open along State Road during construction.

Once complete, the widening will be key to the proposed Portage Crossing project as the flow of traffic is expected to increase in conjunction with the much-anticipated development.