I8 Sunday, March 27, 2016 | The Repository | CantonRep.
com
MASSILLON ROAD CORRIDOR TRIES TO AVOID
FALLING VICTIM TO ITS OWN SUCCESS
By Shane Hoover
Repository staff writer
T
GREEN
he last five years
have been busy with
development on
Massillon Road.
At least $62 million have been
invested in new and renovated
buildings. Akron General and
Summa Health System built
emergency rooms and medical
offices. Acme and a dozen smaller
shops and restaurants moved into
the Heritage Crossings plaza.
Giant Eagle expanded its existing
store.
More development is underway,
with plans for a new apartment
complex and a city park with a
community hall.
We look at this corridor
between Steese Road and E.
Turkeyfoot Lake Road as the heart Road
of the community, said Wayne Wiethe
Wiethe, the citys planning projects in the context of more
director.
But each new office, shop and
restaurant brings more cars and
trucks.
Massillon Road is split into
northern and southern halves
by Interstate 77. To ease traf-
fic woes, the city is planning an
$11 million project to widen the Road north of the interstate, was
northern part of Massillon Road
up to E. Turkeyfoot Lake Road and
replace two intersections with
roundabouts.
This corridor has become a
draw and were trying to make
sure everything meshes well, said Delco
Wiethe said. Weve got some Kungl.
GROWING UP IN
FEDERAL LEAGUE
By Joe Scalzo
Repository sports writer
W
hen Green ath-
letic director Erich
Muzi talks about
the Bulldogs first season
in the Federal League, he
ticks off a list of accom-
plishments that includes
three team championships
(boys soccer, boys and girls
golf), an individual title in
boys cross country (Stewart
Schmidt), a player of the
year honor in girls tennis
(Maria Zivick) and a regional
finalist boys soccer team.
But Muzi, a GlenOak High
graduate, isnt naive. He
knows which sport matters
most, particularly in a Stark
County-based conference.
Football is the jugger-
naut by which people tend
to gauge success, he said.
So, yes, the Bulldogs
football team tied for last
with Hoover, finishing
4-6 overall and 1-5 in the
Federal League. But even
that finish came with a
silver lining, Muzi said,
since Green won its final
game (beating Lake in the
last minute), nearly beat
McKinley (missing out on
a two-point conversion
on the final play of a 28-27
loss in Week 9) and finished
ninth in the Division II,
Region 3 computer ratings,
one spot from a playoff
berth.
Our schedule was
tough, said Muzi, whose
football schedule featured
seven playoff teams and two
others that were in the hunt
until the final week. When
you take two hard losses in
the last minute or so and
turn them around, all the
sudden youre 6-4, youre
in the playoffs and its a dif-
ferent ballgame.
The Bulldogs joined the
seven-team Federal League
this fall after spending more
than a half-century in the
Suburban League. Green
was a founding member of
that conference, along with
Copley, Hudson, Manches-
ter and Northfield (which
became Nordonia), in 1949.
But over the years, Greens
size (a smaller Division I
school) and location (just
across the county line)
began to fit better with the
Federal League than the
Suburban League, which has
GREEN
Massillon Road is a gateway to and a right-turn lane from south-
Hartville and the rest of northern bound Massillon Road to Boettler
Stark County via E. Turkeyfoot Road. The city has studied placing
Lake Road. roundabouts at those same inter-
In 2013, 25,000 vehicles a day sections. The Boettler roundabout
traveled the northern corridor could be built as early as 2022.
between Raber Road and the Plans for Diebold to build a new
interstate. headquarters would have meant
By 2035, that number is esti- a new connection between the
mated to reach 41,200 vehicles, corridor and Lauby Road, down
according to traffic studies. by the Akron-Canton Airport.
That much traffic on a two-lane That project was put on hold when
road with limited sight lines adds Diebold opted not to build.
up to crashes, backups and delays
along the northern corridor. Green BUSINESS REACTION
has been studying ways to fix the Businesses such as Delco, Pio-
road since 2008. neer and RJS stand to lose land
REPOSITORY FILE The city has to make this corri- when the road is widened and
n Traffic on Massillon Road just south of I-77. This image is shown looking north. dor work, said City Engineer Paul construction will limit access to
Pickett. And we have to recog- their properties.
growing pains, but we think we Businesses such as ComDoc, nize that as land develops, well They wont pull it off without
know how to get rid of them. Pioneer Plastics and RJS Corpora- have more traffic here. hurting the business, Kungl said.
tion also built along the northern The $11 million plan calls Its going to be a hassle get-
GROWING GREEN corridor. for making the northern cor- ting in and out. Its going to be a
You could say the Massillon South of I-77 there wasnt much ridor a divided four-lane road. problem.
corridor is booming, but of anything beyond a bulk oil busi- Roundabouts would be built at Judi Hederich opened My Sis-
prefers to view recent ness, a gas station and houses. intersections with E. Turkeyfoot ters Yarn Shop seven years ago
In the late 1980s and early Lake and Stein roads, and two hills in a small plaza just north of the
than 30 years of development. 1990s, office buildings went up. would be shaved to improve vis- interstate. The shop sells yarn and
When the former Green Town- Retail shops, plazas, apartments, ibility for motorists. gives knitting and crochet lessons.
ship incorporated in 1992, the new restaurants, clinics and small The roundabouts will make the Hederich said she was con-
city of Green took in 34 square manufacturers followed. intersections safer, Pickett said. cerned for customers trying to
miles of housing allotments, Seven of the citys 11 largest The median down the middle will get to her business, but the road
small farms, office parks and employers now have a presence eliminate as much of the left-turn improvements will ultimately
businesses. along or next to the corridor, conflicts as we can, so it will be improve traffic flow and safety.
Delco Corporation, on Massillon including Diebold, FedEx Custom smooth, safe. I think its something that
Critical, Green Local Schools and The city wont seek rights-of- needs to be done, she said. I
one of those businesses. InfoCision. way for another year, and 2018 think with the growth of Green the
The company moved to Mas- is the earliest construction could last 25 years as a city, the roads
sillon Road in 1981, attracted by a TRAFFIC WOES start, Pickett said. are underdeveloped for the traffic
rural setting and interstate access. All of that development has The intersections on Massillon that we have.
It was out of the city, easy to increased traffic. Road south of the interstate also
get to, easy to get in and out of, Today, its pretty much a zoo, need work. As early as next year, DOWNTOWN GREEN?
Vice President Albert Kungl said. the city could build dual left-turn Massillon Road isnt the
Thats why we chose it. And for interstate travelers, lanes for Corporate Woods Circle
SEE CORRIDOR, I9
Finding Green is no easy zip
By Robert Wang
Repository staff writer
Massillon Road, they dont
see Green, Ohio on their
mail the geographic des-
codes with geographic
designations for the sur-
rounding areas.
said Weithe, who says if
mailing addresses had the
actual city that theyre in,
GREEN ignation that city officials The problem: People itd be a hell of a lot easier
H
ow easily can you tell have coveted for more than often think the geographic to market Green, Ohio.
someone where you a decade and one the U.S. designation for an address Wiethe said the situa-
live? Postal Service shows no represents the city in which tion makes it more difficult
For thousands of resi- sign of allowing anytime they live, when, on occa- for residents to be tied
dents in southern Summit soon. sion, it is not. Like for the to a civic identity if their
County, its much more Green sprawls across residents of Green. address suggests they live
complicated than merely parts of five ZIP codes (not ZIP codes are for deliv- in another place.
citing the city named on a including 44232 for the post ering mail. Its like the area Its a learning curve
piece of their mail. office): Clinton, 44216; code for delivering phone when we have to explain
Their address might say Akron, 44312; Akron, calls, Van Allen said. to somebody that theyre
North Canton. It might 44319; Uniontown, 44685 Theyre not designed for going to be situated in
say Uniontown. It might and North Canton, 44720. identity of any place. Green and have a North
say Akron. Or it might say Wayne Wiethe, Greens Canton address, Wiethe
Clinton. COMMUNITY IDENTITY director of planning, said said. People come to actu-
Approximately 26,000 David Van Allen, a the fact nearly all of the ally recognize that they
people with those postal spokesman for the U.S. citys residents and busi- have to tell people, I live in
designations dont live in Postal Service, said that nesses do not have Green, Green.
any of those communi- when the ZIP code system Ohio, in their address Wiethe said many local
ties in some cases, they was created in 1963, Green makes it more difficult businesses market that
are miles away from them. was a rural area. ZIP code to market Green to pro- theyre located in Green.
They all reside in nearby boundaries were drawn spective companies for While Park Honda on
Green, a city along the to facilitate the delivery economic development. its website gives its Akron
southern edge of Summit of mail from post office Youre not in North mailing address, it says
County that was incorpo- distribution points around Canton at the (Akron- its on the Green Auto
REPOSITORY FILE
rated in 1992. Green. After the area grew Canton) airport; youre in Mile. General RV Center, a
n The Green Bulldogs play at Tom
Unless the residents use in population and became Green. If youre working nationwide chain that sells
Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
one of the postal boxes a city, Green found itself at Fedex Custom Critical,
against McKinley. This past fall
at the post office at 4735 divided among five ZIP youre not in Uniontown,
was Greens first as a full member SEE ZIP, I9
CAK
of the Federal League.
expanded into a two-tiered,
15-team league that includes A small business
breeding big business
teams from four counties:
Cuyahoga, Medina, Portage
and Summit.
Although the Bulldogs
are the only Federal League By Edd Pritchard on the field, said Rick Development has drawn Akron-Canton attract and
team outside Stark County,
Repository staff writer McQueen, the airports big name companies such keep some of the commer-
president and chief execu- as Diebold, General Electric cial service.
O
there have been others
through the years, including n one hand, its tive officer. and FedEx. Local compa- Beginning in the late
Boardman and Austintown a small business Concerned about devel- nies Suarez Corporation 1990s, Akron-Canton saw
Fitch (both Mahoning with just under 50 opment, growth and noise, Industries and ASC Indus- plenty of growth with more
County), New Philadelphia employees. airport officials started tries, for example took passengers many attracted
(Tuscarawas County) and On the other, its an buying land to buffer the advantage of the site. by low fares for vacation
Wooster (Wayne County). economic engine that facility and make room As McQueen likes to flights going through the
Besides, Muzi said, Green drives business in southern for expansion. Buying note when he talks to local gates. There has been a
was already playing Federal Summit and north Stark land allowed the airport to organizations, no other downturn in recent years,
League schools in every counties. extend two runways. airport in the country can much of it driven by airline
sport. They just didnt Akron-Canton Airport Airport managers decided lay claim to having a candy industry consolidation.
count as conference games. doesnt have a long list of in the 1990s to use some of factory Harry London and Southwest Airlines bought
I think a lot of people names on the payroll, but the property for develop- Fannie May chocolates on AirTran and recently has
questioned why we did the operation is indirectly ment, McQueen said. Work its property. stopped serving several
it although in our mind in the source of more than started on two industrial Over the past two years, major cities. But other air-
the district, we were very 1,500 jobs. parks Port Jackson to the the airport and Green offi- lines United and American
confident in the decision Office and industrial south and CAK Interna- cials have worked together have stepped in to fill the
we made but I havent had parks surround the facility. tional Business Park to the to open another 140 acres gaps.
one coach come in and say To the west, you can find an west. The airport main- on the west side for devel- While there are fewer
we made the wrong move, automotive parts company tained ownership of the opment. Green secured options available, McQueen
Muzi said. The only thing and a military museum. To land, which was leased for $3.7 million in financing said the airport continues
I hear is that its going to the south, there is a skat- construction. The leases to extend Global Gateway to talk with airlines about
be tough, but we accept the ing rink. A candy factory guaranteed income. Drive north to connect service. One company,
challenge. sits to the east. And more Meanwhile developers with Greensburg Road. The Allegiant, started earlier
And I think the major- vacant land is available to can for the most part build project included sewer and this year offering flights to
ity of our fans embrace the be developed. what a potential clients water lines. vacation spots. While the
move. A lot of these back- Using land it owns has needs or desires. There Development has trips arent daily, they have
yard rivalries have already helped Akron-Canton are height restrictions on helped Akron-Canton as attracted passengers.
been created, so were just operate as a self-sustaining buildings, but because it searches for commercial We still have a very
going to build on that. entity. It also has helped the the land south and west airlines to provide service. good sized airport able to
Greens biggest success airport avoid seeking local of the airport drops below Revenue from leasing land serve Northeast Ohio well,
taxes to cover the costs. the level of runways, the helps keep costs lower McQueen said.
We survive by what we restrictions dont lead to for the airlines, McQueen
SEE LEAGUE, I9 are able to generate here problems. said. That has helped SEE CAK, I9