A Canton-University of Akron Transit Line
The area sits active with a few nearby industrial and commercial buildings, but the SW side of Canton has been neglected in new construction. What could a large scale project look like to help the area?
There is a Norfolk Southern East-West right of way that goes through the south side of Canton that once held an intercity rail line. We have discussed one of the former stops by the Hercules plant before hoping to see a revitalized use in our rusting city. Our focus today is on Marion Ave. in Canton and the former rail RoW that runs through it.
The area sits active with a few nearby industrial and commercial buildings, but the SW side of Canton has been neglected in new construction. The former Timken Steel plant does not support nearly as many jobs as it has in the past, leading to more economic drain on the area. What could a large scale project look like to help the area?
The parties we would need to involve include the City of Canton, North Industry Township, Akron Metro, Norfolk Southern, and CSX. The main southwest hub would exist in the 1100 block of Marion Ave. There are ~5 parcels there owned by the Akron Metro Transit Authority. These are a part of the North South track that would lead into our "Rubber Line" in Akron beside the East End development.
This North-South Track has a former RoW that ran due South and connected to Canton South. This could be reactivated to provide Canton South based University of Akron students (and the surrounding area) access to a Roo bus extension that would serve the East End.
There is access via High St. to this "Marion Rd. Triangle" that could support a station. The lands of the triangle and the plot direct to the west are owned by Akron Metro and Groffre Investments respectively. This RoW goes all the way north to the East End development at the old Goodyear plant.
The East End has real potential to be a major transit hub for Akron. It has direct connection for the Akron to Canton commute. It also serves as the terminal for our proposed Rubberbelt transit line.
If we ignore the thieves of joy ("It too complicated" and "It too expensive") how would you like to see us use our existing infrastructure to its maximum capacity? Are you able to envision Canton-Akron becoming a more accessible place for each-other's citizens?
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