Monday, 14 May 2012 22:17

AUDIO Battle Over Boston Township Roads: Stay Or Go?

Written by  Mike Ward
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Summit County Council is mulling whether three Boston Township roads will be vacated - that is, shut down.

Boston Township trustees asked the county to agree to close the roads...portions of Stanford Road, Wetmore Road and Oak Hill Road, most of the roads within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

"We have a very small population, we have a high tax base, we don't have the money to maintain these roads...we just don't," Boston Townshp trustee chair Amy Anderson tells AkronNewsNow.com. "There are no residents on them to pay taxes."

Anderson says that's because the homes are occupied in a lifetime lease with the National Park Service, which doesn't pay taxes to the township.

Oak Hill Road resident Erin Alridge says residents have been in her neighborhood for decades, calling it "a pleasant place to live."  She says closing the road would be a safety issue if disaster happens.

"If there needs to be more than one responding agency, the National Park, their quickest way to our home and to our neighbor's home is through that connector (on Oak Hill Road)," Alridge tells AkronNewsNow.com. "And if they vacate that, it's probably going to be an extra five or so minutes on that time to get to our homes."

It'll also cost well over 500-thousand dollars to fix a slide on Oak Hill Road.

The final public hearing on the proposed road closures will be held at Summit County Council on June 11th.

Last modified on Monday, 14 May 2012 22:53
Mike Ward

Mike Ward

Mike Ward has been a radio news reporter and anchor for over 20 years, for a variety of stations in Ohio, Virginia, and California. For seven years, he was a news reporter and anchor for Sacramento's top-rated news/talk station, KFBK, and was also news director for WFIR in Roanoke, Virginia.  He's also been heard on Cleveland stations. Mike has a special interest in technology, and was a regular on the nationally syndicated radio show "On Computers with Gina Smith". Despite his out-of-area experience, Mike is an Akron native. He was born at Akron City Hospital, and grew up in Cuyahoga Falls. He's been with AkronNewsNow since 2009. You can  reach Mike through the newsroom at 330-864-6397, or by email mward@rcrg.net.

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