As part of the Innerbelt Master Plan, the City of Akron is looking for urban design consultants to execute and complete the next steps for Akron’s Innerbelt study area.
In his first State of the City address April 10, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik announced the city would issue a request for qualifications (RFQ), calling the Innerbelt “a historic scar on our city.”
Three goals are part of the RFQ: Create a vision for the Innerbelt site that is reflective of the community’s values; create opportunities for financial growth for neighborhood residents adjacent to the Innerbelt site and throughout the city; and promote equity through physical interventions and community benefits.
“The construction of the Akron Innerbelt destroyed homes, businesses and community that took decades to build,” Malik said in an email. “Now, we are working hand-in-hand with that same community to determine what’s next for the area they once called ‘home.’ This process is about doing things with our residents and not to our residents.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s $960,000 Reconnecting Communities grant was awarded to the City of Akron in 2023 and will be used to develop a master plan for how the vacated Innerbelt will be used.
According to the RFQ document, the master plan will study two sub-areas of the Innerbelt site. The first, which will make up approximately 80% of the project, will look at the best ways to repurpose the decommissioned one-mile stretch from North Howard to Exchange streets.
The remaining 20%, and second sub-area, is the still-active, two-mile section stretching from Exchange Street to Interstates 76 and 77. The project will look at roadway layout and infrastructure as well as identify interventions that will benefit the surrounding neighborhoods.
Beyond the overall site plans, the master plan must include illustrative color renderings, 3-D flyover and street-level walk-throughs, preliminary traffic studies and proposed zoning modifications. It must also evaluate existing utility infrastructure and make recommendations for modifications, among other things.
The consultant team must present the master plan at a community meeting, to the Akron Planning Commission, and to City Council.
Qualifications are due June 10, with reviews beginning May 28 and ending June 25. The list of the top two to four consultant teams will be issued July 9, and interviews for those consultants will take place July 24-26, with final consultant notification on Aug. 13.
The Akron Innerbelt project
Innerbelt construction began in 1970. The 4-mile-long, six-lane highway – also known as state Route 59 – cuts through central Akron and runs north along the western edge of downtown. Before the Innerbelt, the area was a vibrant community that was home to families of color – primarily Black residents.
The development “was driven by federal funding and urban renewal which often aimed to expand the interstate highway system and redevelop areas designated as ‘slums’ around the country,” the Phase One Reconnecting Our Community report stated.
More than 700 homes, more than 100 businesses and several houses of worship were displaced when the City of Akron exercised eminent domain – a power held by governments to force owners to accept payment for their private property and turn it into a public space.
The goal of the project was to “rejuvenate” downtown, but the project led to the displacement of people, homes and businesses. As of today, only around 11.2 acres of the roughly 40 acres are in use, leaving about 28.8 acres lying desolate and awaiting redevelopment.