By Phil Keren
The Summiteer

Cuyahoga Falls is making another large investment to upgrade the infrastructure and aesthetic features in its downtown.

The city is paying Kenmore Construction $6.4 million to perform a streetscape transformation project along Front Street running from Broad Boulevard south to Grant Avenue. The visual elements in this section are being updated to tie it in with the rest of downtown, according to Carrie Snyder, Director of the city’s Neighborhood Excellence, Communications and Community Outreach Department.

Cuyahoga Falls City Council approved entering the contract with Kenmore Construction in July and the work along Front Street began in September. 

“We are expecting substantial completion by fall 2025,” Snyder added.

The work to transform the Front Street blocks that are north of Broad Boulevard started in 2017 and was finished in 2018, according to Snyder. Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters said there is a lot of development happening on Front Street and upgrading this area south of Broad Boulevard will give the area a uniform look.

“We wanted the aesthetics and the beautification to match the (Front Street) blocks to the north with the flowers, the street lights, the nice sidewalks,” Walters said. “All that’s going to match and it will really tie things together.”

Cuyahoga Falls City Council President Russ Balthis (D-At Large) concurred with Walters.

“We’ve had so much success with Front Street it’s important that we keep that momentum going with lessons learned and to continue to get those kinds of results,” said Balthis.

The components of this improvement project include underground utilities, public wireless access, bike lanes, sidewalks, streetlights, planters, benches, trash cans and bike racks that will match the updates on the northern portion of downtown Front Street, Snyder said. City-owned off-street parking will be rebuilt, while on-street, metered parking and EV charging stations will also be installed.

The utility poles and lines beginning at the Hibachi Japan on Front Street and heading south are still above-ground; that equipment will be taken down and moved underground.
“The (utility) poles are on the southwest side and they’re hideous, they’re huge,” Walters said. “All that’s going underground.”

The utility lines on Front Street north of Hibachi have already been moved underground.
Once the utility work is finished, the next step will be road widening and resurfacing. The Front Street-Broad Boulevard intersection will be widened and a dedicated right turn lane will be installed on northbound Front Street to help alleviate traffic congestion.

“The majority of cars that are headed north (on Front Street)…are turning right to get on (Route 8),” Walters explained. “However, if one car is waiting to go straight at a red light, no one can turn right on red and it backs up pretty far sometimes.”

The mayor said parking meters will be set up along Front Street south of Broad Boulevard in an effort to keep parking spaces available for people coming downtown to shop or dine.

“Those are prime parking spots that customers use,” Walters stated. “The purpose of a parking meter is to get cars in and get them out within two hours and let the next customer come in and spend some money…we just need the turnover of cars so that the next person can have the luxury of parking close.”

Two brick columns with lettering that spells out “South Front” will be constructed on both the east and west sides of Front Street at the intersection with Broad Boulevard. About 20 to 30 feet farther south, two more brick columns and an illuminated arch will be built.

“It will be lit up and there will be string lights that comes from the columns at Broad and it ties in to the arch,” Walters said.

The arch will also bear the “South Front” label.

A new area called Pedal Park will be set up near the corner of Front Street and Falls Avenue, and run parallel to the parking lot next to Fire Station 1. The park will offer e-bike charging, solar umbrellas, benches, a water filling station and a bicycle repair station.

“Our goal is to try and attract a lot of bicyclists from the Towpath (Trail) and other areas, and this will be… their hub where they can park their bikes and do their thing,” Walters said.

The parking lot at Front Street and Sackett Avenue will be rebuilt during this project, too. That work is expected to start in summer of 2025. The mayor describes this space across from Hibachi Japan as a “makeshift dirt lot” that “barely functions.” 

The lot will be paved and striped, and will have lighting and a drainage system. Currently, about 50 vehicles can park in this two-level lot, but there are no Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant spaces, according to Snyder. When the reconstruction is finished, the lower lot will have 63 parking spaces (with three being ADA-compliant spots) and the upper lot will have 15 parking spots (1 ADA-compliant space).

“That will be a huge, noticeable improvement as to what’s there now,” Walters said.”…That’s going to be like night and day compared to what it is right now…it will look new.”

Since the Front Street-Sackett Avenue lot will be closed when it’s being rebuilt, the city has rented two lots to provide temporary parking areas for the public. One lot is on the west side of Front Street and the other is farther south along the road across from Triad and HiHo Brewing Co. The latter lot is being rented for both public parking and to provide spaces for the construction crews to park their vehicles.

An upcoming, nearby project is an upgrade of the boardwalk and Cuyahoga River area. Snyder said that project is expected to go out to bid in late 2024 or early 2025, with the work starting in the early part of 2025.

Cuyahoga Falls residents can follow the streetscape transformation project on a website at southfrontstreetscape.com.