RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The city is seeking to make the eastern portion of Chardon Road a safer place for pedestrians, bikers and motorists, as well as a friendlier place for doing business.
City Council, during its meeting Tuesday (Sept. 23), voted 5-0 (Councilmen Daniel Ursu and Asu Mook Robinson were not present) to seek a grant for between $100,000-$200,000 to help pay for work to accomplish its goals.
The Transportation for Livable Communities Grant application is being sought from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA).
Specificallly, the project under NOACA consideration would be centered on Chardon Road, at its intersection with Brush Road.
Motorists heading north up the Brush Road hill, upon reaching Chardon Road, must either turn left or right, as Brush ends at Chardon Road.
Assistant Economic Development Director Rachel Gardiner said that this intersection has been a trucky one for motorists and pedestrians to navigate, as it also is situated at a bend in Chardon Road.
“We’re going to try to make it as pedestrian-friendly as possible,” Gardiner said of the intersection. “We’d like to put in some nice, bright crosswalks.
“And, basically, we want to take the buffer (the paved bike lane on the south side of Chardon Road) that is now on Chardon Road, and take that buffer and go down Brush. That way, people can walk, and there’ll be a little bit of a bike lane.
“It’s really a safety and aesthetic thing. It’s a heavily foot-trafficked area for walking to what used to be Lohmann’s Plaza (Shoppes at Willoughby Hills, on Chardon Road in Willoughby Hills).
“(The project) is a baby step for us, but it’s a high-impact project.”
The Chardon-Brush project is just a small portion of a much larger development project upon which Economic Development Director Chelsey Kovar and Gardiner have been developing — one that seeks to, over the next few years — revitalize and make safer for travel five key business areas.
Those five areas included in the Richmond-Chardon Streetscape and Business Revitalization Plan, in addition to the Chardon Road East business district, are the Northside Business District (where Chardon Road meets Richmond Road); the Airport Corridor (at Richmond Road and Curtiss-Wright Parkway, and the Cuyahoga County Airport); the City Center District (at Richmond and Highland roads); and the Town Square Business District (at Richmond and Wilson Mills roads).
In the May, 2025 final draft of the large plan, it is stated that, like many suburbs, Richmond Heights was built up over the last several decades in an auto-centric way, meaning it was planned around automobile travel.
The overall plan for the five districts is seen as an opportunity to change those auto-centric patterns and to create “a comprehensive set of recommendations and graphic renderings meant to bring about economically and socially vibrant business districts, and to improve walkability, bike-ability, and create safe, attractive, and inviting streets for all users.”
The entire project final draft can be seen here.
Gardiner said that to create and implement plans for all five districts will be a lengthy project that will take an, as of now, unknown amount of money.
The Chardon-Brush project, she said, is “low-hanging fruit,” a mini-portion of the larger Chardon East project that, with NOACA’s help, can realistically be accomplished in a short time frame.
Gardiner said that an engineer’s cost estimate for the Chardon-Brush project has not yet been completed, so it is not yet known what might be added at the intersection. This makes the total cost unknown, which is why the exact amount of the grant request hasn’t been determined.
If Richmond Heights receives the full amount for which it eventually asks of NOACA, it would have to match that grant at 20 percent, although Gardiner said it is possible that NOACA could waive that match.
“This is important because it’s going to attract more businesses to the area, and it gives us the opportunity to transform the business community,” said Mayor Kim Thomas of the plans for Chardon East portion of thre plan.
Upcoming community meeting
Police Chief Calvin Williams reminded residents Tuesday of the meeting scheduled for 6-7 p.m. Oct. 6 during which those in attendance will be updated on the subjects of street lights and sidewalks, and will have the opportunity to ask questions.
The meeting will take place at the Richmond Heights Community Center, 27285 Highland Road, in Richmond Heights Community Park.
Williams said that work on adding street lights could be started soon, and will extend for about two years.
“When I first got here in March, 2023, that was one of the first things I heard at a council meeting (the need for a lighting study),” he said, “and I am happy to report that we are really close to finalizing and getting some things started, if not at the end of this year, the first part of 2026.”