Gahanna

Cleveland Ave Streetscape 2020 Means Makeover for Residents

By Angela Murphy on November 5, 2009

By KEVIN PARKS

ThisWeek Staff Writer

A “fresher looking Cleveland Avenue” in the Northern Lights area and perhaps beyond could well be in the works, according to Clinton Township trustee John Coneglio.

Now that the last of three public meetings has been held on the “Cleveland Avenue Streetscape 2020″ project being conducted by Franklin County Economic Development and Planning, Coneglio feels it’s only a matter of time before some of the suggested improvements to the corridor begin to take shape.

In the meantime, county officials are continuing to conduct an online survey of various design possibilities in the study area, which covers Cleveland Avenue from Piedmont Road to Case Road and includes the Northern Lights and Amos shopping centers.

Those interested in participating in the survey can find a link to it at the Web site for the project, tinyurl.com/streetscape2020.

Coneglio said the final meeting late last month was rather sparsely attended because, he feels, most of the interested parties had already seen and approved of the proposed street-scape upgrades.

“Basically we talked about a gateway into the township along the Cleveland Avenue corridor,” Coneglio said. “People were generally satisfied with the design.

“The residents are behind the Cleveland Avenue project. I think everybody was positive about it.”

Most of the proposed improvements aren’t especially costly, according to the trustee, but they could not be implemented without the help of the county and possibly with some grants. The township simply could not afford to fund the improvements without assistance, Coneglio said.

“We run on a very tight budget,” he said. “We watch every penny that we spend, and we have to. There’s no room for us to just waste money.

“It looks like we’ve got the support of the county and the county will help us.”

Coneglio cautioned that the year 2020 is in the title of the project for a reason; the improvements may take some time in being implemented.

“It’s not going to be overnight. It’ll be an ongoing process.”

It also won’t be a major burden on taxpayers, especially when spread over time, according to Coneglio. Some landscaping, nicer looking bus stops and upgraded signs will make a world of difference at minimal cost, he said.

“You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make something look nice,” Coneglio said. “You don’t have to spend millions and millions of dollars to improve an area.

“The way I look at it, it will be a nice improvement at a low cost for taxpayers.”