YOUNGSTOWN Ungaro praises benefits of 711

The new highway is a pathway to progress, the former mayor says.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- When completed, the long-awaited 711 connector can serve as a major economic development corridor for Youngstown, Liberty and Girard, according to Liberty Township Administrator Patrick Ungaro.
"It's more important than meets the eye," the former Youngstown mayor told several dozen people Monday at a meeting of the Northside Concerned Citizens at Park Vista Retirement Community. "It has an incredible amount of potential for economic development," he added.
The $90 million connector, which is now under construction, will open up land behind the Rite Aid and Walgreen's drugstores at Belmont Avenue and Gypsy Lane and land in Brier Hill and Girard for development, the former mayor said. The connector, which will feature an interchange at Gypsy Lane, will benefit Belmont Avenue in Youngstown and Liberty, he predicted.
The connector is being built in two phases with state and federal money, said Kathleen L. Rodi, director of transportation programs for Eastgate Regional Council of Governments. The first phase, from I-80 to Gypsy Lane, could open to traffic in 2005, and the second phase, from Gypsy Lane to I-680, could open at the end of 2006, Rodi said.
Sees increased traffic
Ungaro predicted it will increase traffic on Belmont Avenue by 25 percent to 30 percent. He also predicted truck traffic on I-80 between Austintown and Hubbard will increase by 30 percent to 40 percent, requiring widening of that section of I-80. "Traffic means economic development," he said.
Major high-volume discount retailers and other retailers are considering locating along Belmont Avenue, and people are trying to buy options for major projects along that avenue, he said. Because interest rates are low, the timing is right for construction, he added.
Youngstown, Liberty and Girard should explore forming a joint economic development zone similar to the one now in place at the new Flying J truck stop in Hubbard, Ungaro said. There, the city of Hubbard supplies water and electricity and gets the local income tax, and Hubbard Township retains the land and property tax.
Ungaro also said the proposed Hubbard Expressway, which will connect Youngstown to I-80 at Bell Wick Road in Hubbard, is "a priority" because it offers economic development potential for thousands of acres on Youngstown's East Side and in Hubbard city and township. Businesses want to be located near access to a major highway, he explained.