News From NOACA

2012-2015 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which identifies federal-aid transportation projects scheduled for implementation over the next four years in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties; and

· NOACA SFY 2012 Overall Work Program (OWP), which details NOACA planning activities for the next state fiscal year (July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012).

The public review and comment period runs from March 29 through 10:00 a.m. on May 13, 2011. Copies of draft documents are available at various locations in the region and can be viewed on the NOACA website. Interested persons can also review documents at one of three open houses, which will be held in early April.

Sustainable Communities Consortium Elects Leadership

Hunter Morrison has been selected as program director for the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium, the 21-member organization that received a $4.25 million U.S. Sustainable Communities Planning Grant in October 2010. Morrison, director of campus planning and community partnerships at Youngstown State University and a former NOACA Governing Board president, will be responsible for coordinating the overall development and implementation of a collaborative plan that links economic development to equitable housing, land use, transportation, community development and water/sewer infrastructure in a 12-county area.

Consortium members also elected Medina County Commissioner and 2011 NOACA Board President Stephen D. Hambley chairman of its board of directors. Jason Segedy, director of the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS), will serve as vice chairman of the board. NOACA functions as the fiscal agent for the Consortium and executive director Howard R. Maier is the treasurer.

NOACA Governing Board Approves Planning Awards

Several Northeast Ohio communities are on the way to planning roadway, bicycle, pedestrian, and streetscape projects for improving neighborhoods and enhancing residents' quality of life. The NOACA Governing Board approved 13 projects, totaling $845,000, for funding as part of the Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative (TLCI).

TLCI funding will help the cities of Cleveland and Cleveland Heights, and University Circle, Inc., prepare a bicycle network plan.

NOACA annually sets aside funding for planning studies through the TLCI. NOACA encourages communities to plan their transportation improvement projects thoughtfully and thoroughly, an important step toward project readiness, funding and implementation.

NOACA Completes Broadview Heights Speed Zone Study

Could a 45 m.p.h. speed limit be too high for a heavily traveled stretch of Broadview Road? Broadview Heights officials asked NOACA staff to conduct an engineering analysis of Broadview from Boston Road to Edgerton Road, to reinforce their request to the Ohio Department of Transportation for having the speed limit reduced.

NOACA staff observed vehicle speeds and field conditions, and examined crash history in the study area. The completed Broadview Heights Speed Zone technical memorandum contains the staff observations and recommendations. This speed zone study is one of three traffic studies that NOACA staff is conducting for the city of Broadview Heights under the Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative (TLCI) Links Technical Assistance program.

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is a regional organization of local officials responsible for carrying out transportation and environmental planning under the local direction and in accordance with state and federal mandates. The NOACA area encompasses the Cleveland/Lorain-Elyria metropolitan region, which includes Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties.

Howard R. Maier
Executive Director

NOACA