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Akron committee advances contracts for regional transportation planning, pavement study

Akron City Council (Planning Committee & Public Service Committee) ยท October 28, 2025

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Summary

The planning committee recommended authorizing the director to enter into federally funded transportation planning contracts for calendar-year 2026. The renewal carries no local cost and funds a two-year pavement management data collection effort and anticipated Connecting Communities planning grants in 2026.

The Planning Committee of Akron City Council recommended authorizing the director of the Department of Planning and Urban Development to enter into contracts under the federal consolidated planning grant for the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 2026, allowing the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMET) to procure transportation-planning services.

The legislation, described at the committee by Heather Davis-Bridal of AMET, carries no cost to the city and is funded 100% through federal highway-administration programs. Davis-Bridal said the authority would allow AMET to hire a firm to carry out a two-year pavement management program to collect pavement-condition data across the AMET region and to award two Connecting Communities planning grants in 2026.

"This legislation is a renewal that allows the planning director and AMETs to enter into contracts for calendar year 2026. There's no cost to the city. This is 100% federally funded," Davis-Bridal said. She described the pavement work as a systematic data-collection effort and said AMET plans to award two planning grants in 2026 aimed at tying land use and transportation planning.

Councilmember Tina Boyce asked for details about the Connecting Communities grants. Davis-Bridal said Akron previously received a grant in the programs first funding round (2010) for a downtown connectivity study and more recently completed a Summit Lake planning grant that examined Lakeshore Boulevard and surrounding roadways to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Committee members placed the item on the consent agenda and voted verbally to advance the ordinance to the next step.