Bath Gets Grant to Study Bicycle, Pedestrian Access in the Area

Bath and Copley townships have been awarded $50,000 to study ways to improve bicycle, pedestrian and vehicle access to the Montrose area.

The Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study chose the Montrose: North/South East/West as one of two projects to fund with planning grants this year.

"It will look (in part) at the Route 18 corridor for a walk and bike path," said Township Administrator Vito Sinopoli, who added that Trustee Elaina Goodrich spearheaded the grant application.

Goodrich was not available for comment Monday.

The study will encompass a 3.25-mile suburban area bounded by Bath Township to the north and Copley Township to the south and include the heavily traveled roadways of Interstate 77, state Route 18, Springside Drive, Montrose West Avenue, and Cleveland-Massillon, Rothrock and Crystal Lake roads. 

The study will consider bicycle and pedestrian access improvements throughout the area and transit and vehicle access improvements to nearby retail and parking locations. 

Other topics to be addressed by the study include possible aesthetic improvements, signage blight and the interrelated issues of sustainability and environmental impacts. 

According to a fact sheet about the project, the problems that exist are:

• Transportation options in Montrose are limited to auto and bus

• Sidewalks are limited

• Zoning is difficult to change

• Traffic patterns are confusing

The study seeks to:

• Provide complete streets with safe access for pedestrians and bicyclists from the residential areas of Bath, Copley and Fairlawn

• Provide access routes to allow for more efficient and diverse forms of traffic

• Provide more options for public transportation

AMATS selected the two studies after an extensive review of 10 project applications this year.  

The AMATS Connecting Communities Planning Grant Program was launched by the agency three years ago and awards funds for the study of potential improvements that promote sustainability such as bicycle, pedestrian and transit infrastructure projects.  

Barberton also received a $50,000 grant to study north-south connectivity in the city.