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<\/p>\nMIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio \u2014 Restaurant owner Patrick Potopsky isn\u2019t wasting any time.<\/p>\n
A year ago \u2013 while the Cleveland Browns were still trying to land $600 million in state funding for a new stadium in Brook Park \u2013 he shut down the Brew Garden on Bagley Road. The renovated restaurant reopened a few months later as 1928 Public House, with a new look, a revamped menu and an expanded patio.<\/p>\n
Potopsky was confident the team was coming, with the promise of tailgating fans and spillover crowds from concerts and other large events just a few miles up the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have an easement agreement to about 1,700 parking spots,\u201d Potopsky said Friday. \u201cSo we\u2019re already looking at buying shuttles. \u2026 We\u2019re gonna have pre-parties. Bloody Mary breakfasts. Brunches. All that stuff, you know, at 9 a.m. So they can park here for free, and then they just jump on our shuttles. All they have to do is just show a receipt.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s ready for the bustle. But he\u2019s not so sure the nearby roads are.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way this gets done without widening those,\u201d he said, referring to streets including Engle Road, State Route 237 and Front Street. \u201cThey\u2019re already busy now.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency advanced the Browns\u2019 plans for road upgrades and pedestrian paths in Brook Park, around the future stadium site. That vote, by the powerful agency\u2019s planning and programming committee, sets up the transportation proposals for approval by NOACA\u2019s full board in March.<\/p>\n
But the agency\u2019s staff \u2013 and committee members \u2013 tacked on one condition. They\u2019re asking the Browns, their consultants and Brook Park officials to look more closely at possible traffic impacts on neighboring communities.<\/p>\n
The Browns already are paying for a separate traffic study of Bagley, with an emphasis on the areas around the Interstate 71 interchange and the Engle Road intersection. Dennis Albrecht of Osborn Engineering, the lead consultant for the Browns, said that study should be done in mid-February.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs of right now, there are no additional studies planned,\u201d he said Friday.<\/p>\n
‘A collaborative process’<\/p>\n
Grace Gallucci, NOACA\u2019s chief executive officer, keeps talking about a second wave of potential infrastructure upgrades. She said the agency plans to bring together a group of staff members from surrounding communities to talk about roads that might be worth a deeper dive.<\/p>\n
During an interview, Middleburg Heights Mayor Matthew Castelli said he\u2019s talking frequently with Brook Park leaders and the Browns about congestion concerns and ways to tackle increased traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of collaboration on this,\u201d he said Friday afternoon before heading into a different NOACA committee meeting. \u201cThe Browns and Brook Park have reached out to make sure that we\u2019re not just looking at this from a Brook Park standpoint and a Browns standpoint \u2013 but from a region standpoint. And I\u2019m very appreciative of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Avery Fulton\/News 5<\/p>\n
Middleburg Heights Mayor Matthew Castelli talks to News 5 reporter Michelle Jarboe about traffic and the new Browns stadium project in neighboring Brook Park.<\/p>\n
Castelli said he\u2019s hearing a mix of enthusiasm and apprehension about the stadium project from business owners in Middleburg Heights.<\/p>\n
Like Potopsky, they\u2019re excited about a huge investment in the area \u2013 approximately $3.4 billion in public and private money, between the stadium and the mixed-use development around it. But they\u2019re also trying to understand how NFL games, concerts and other events will impact traffic and their customers\u2019 ability to get around.<\/p>\n
Access to Southwest General Health Center, across Bagley from 1928 Public House, is a big topic of conversation. A NOACA analysis predicts drivers will only experience slight delays \u2013 under 3 minutes \u2013 getting to and from the hospital at the busiest times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel pretty good,\u201d Castelli said, based on what he\u2019s seen so far. \u201cBut we know that there\u2019s more due diligence that needs to be done, more studies that need to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it\u2019s too early to talk about who would pay for any roadwork, if it turns out that Middleburg Heights needs to widen certain streets, add turn lanes or change traffic signals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a collaborative process,\u201d he stressed. \u201cWe\u2019ll need to identify future funding. And, right now, I think it\u2019s a little premature to have those discussions. But I can tell you, from my perspective, I don\u2019t think that should fall on the taxpayers of Middleburg Heights.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘A critical time’<\/p>\n
Brook Park is seeking $70.3 million from the state to pay for its roadwork proposals, including upgrades to the I-71 interchange at Snow Road and streamlining a tangle of local streets around the stadium site. That bucket of projects also includes a pedestrian bridge that would stretch over Engle near Hummel Road, near one entrance to the property.<\/p>\n
Brook Park, Browns make their pitch for $70.3 million in state transportation money<\/p>\n
RELATED: Brook Park, Browns make their pitch for $70.3 million in state transportation money<\/a><\/p>\n The state\u2019s Transportation Review Advisory Council is weighing Brook Park\u2019s request for money against funding applications from more than two dozen other projects across the state. A final decision on the awards is expected in April.<\/p>\n In their application filed with the state, Brook Park and the Browns said they\u2019re also looking at federal programs to help pay for road upgrades and public infrastructure.<\/p>\n The Browns aim to start excavation work for the enclosed stadium in March, with the goal of opening the new venue and other buildings by the summer of 2029. On Monday, Brook Park\u2019s planning commission will take up a planned lot consolidation and split for the roughly 180-acre site, to divide it into six parcels<\/p>\n \u201cWe are at a critical time in this project,\u201d Mayor Edward Orcutt said during Friday\u2019s NOACA planning committee hearing. \u201cObviously the small city of Brook Park cannot afford $80 million worth of improvements to our highway systems.\u201d<\/p>\n Committee member Scott Wangler, the assistant engineer for Parma, endorsed NOACA’s recommendation for broader studies. He asked the project team to look at traffic farther east along Interstate 480, at the Tiedeman Road and Ridge Road interchanges.<\/p>\n Over at 1928 Public House, Potopsky is optimistic. He believes the new stadium district will be a boon \u2013 if traffic and infrastructure are handled well from the start.<\/p>\n \u201cThey gotta nail it on the first phase. \u2026 Try and hit a grand slam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Or, perhaps, a touchdown.<\/p>\n Michelle Jarboe is the business growth and development reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @MJarboe<\/a> or email her at Michelle.Jarboe@wews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio \u2014 Restaurant owner Patrick Potopsky isn\u2019t wasting any time. A year ago \u2013 while the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[103878,103879,103880,86,5491,29043,103882,103883,5494,99396,103881,85,54,2337,7,6],"class_list":["post-718236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cleveland-browns","tag-1928-public-house","tag-bagley-road","tag-brook-park-roadwork","tag-browns","tag-browns-brook-park","tag-browns-dome","tag-browns-infrastructure","tag-browns-roadwork","tag-browns-stadium","tag-browns-stadium-traffic","tag-browns-trac","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-clevelandbrowns","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115987824819051406","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}