Strongsville Wants New I-71 Off-Ramp to Howe Road

Strongsville officials believe they've found a way to unsnarl rush hour traffic on Royalton Road near I-71 — a new off-ramp that would bypass the congested Route 82 area and take traffic directly to Howe Road.

The project would mean building a new off-ramp for southbound I-71 traffic, one for motorists heading to the south part of Strongsville or into Brunswick.

It would take traffic directly to Howe Road, meeting Howe directly across from Shurmer Road.

But the plan has yet to garner approval from the Ohio Department of Transportation, said Mayor Tom Perciak, who called the project "a wish."

"At this point, it's just a dream," Perciak said.

City Council on Tuesday introduced legislation to seek federal funding for the project, but did not take action on it.

"It's not anything we have approval for yet," Perciak said.

The new project, if approved and funded, would give southbound I-71 motorists a third option to exit in Strongsville. They could take one of the existing exits to head east or west on Royalton Road, or a new "slip ramp" onto Howe Road.

The city last year hired an engineering firm to design improvements to the Shurmer-Howe roads intersection, where commuter traffic often backs up.

Perciak said Strongsville also wants to widen Howe Road from Shurmer north to SouthPark Mall.

The city last year asked the Ohio Department of Transportation to look into ways to improve traffic flow in the Royalton Road-Interchange 71 area, and in May sought a $5 million grant from the Highway Safety Program to implement some of those changes.

Some steps have already been taken to ease congestion in that area. Last year, the city lengthened the left-turn lane for eastbound Royalton Road traffic trying to turn into the Plaza at SouthPark.

The plaza's developers also last year added an access road that runs behind Rosewood Grill to the Borders Plaza.

The other long-range solution to traffic woes would be the 20-year-old plan to construct a new I-71 interchange at Boston Road. Strongsville officials said in early 2012 they wanted to revisit the idea, but the costly project has failed to get any traction.