Politics & Government

Work on 'Ring Road' Cleared to Start in Spring

Access road will link Lowe's, Walmart and Home Depot

The final legal hurdle has been cleared in the case of a  that would connect the retail stores on Pearl Road at Sprague and Whitney roads.

The road would let motorists travel all the way from Sprague to Whitney without driving on Pearl Road.

Law Director Ken Kraus said the Ohio Supreme Court denied a motion to reconsider the case, giving a green light to build an interior access road that would link the Pearl-Sprague stores -- which are now  and  -- with the stores just south, including Lowe's.

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"The ring road should go in as soon as the weather breaks in the spring," Kraus said.

He said there is more than $90,000 in an escrow fund to pay for construction of the roadway.

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Home Depot has because it would connect its home improvement store to Lowe's, its main competitor.

The road was supposed to be built by Lowe's and former project developer David Lewanski, but construction was blocked by Home Depot's lawsuit.

The court eventually ruled in favor of Lowe's, Lewanski and the city. Home Depot appealed, and last year, the Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that Home Depot raised no valid objections to the lower court's decision, Kraus said.

Home Depot then went to the Ohio Supreme Court, but the court in late November declined jurisdiction in the case.

Council President Mike Daymut has said the intent of the road was to alleviate traffic on the main roads in that area.

In fact, Daymut said, the issue actually stretches back to the 1990s, when Builder's Square first moved into the site that is now Home Depot. Even then, he said, plans called for a ring road to be put in to access any other businesses that might be built to the south.


 


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