LAKEWOOD, Ohio (WJW) – Residents living along Bunts Road in Lakewood say they learned in May 2024 that the city is preparing to tear up the road in 2026 to replace old sewer lines, and update lighting and crosswalks.
They then learned that as part of the Bunts Road Rehabilitation Project, the city is also planning to build a 10-foot wide, multi-purpose pathway on the west side of the street. To complete the project, the city will need to shorten the tree lawns on both sides of Bunts Road and remove many of the trees.
Homeowners believe the pathway project will change the character of their neighborhood.
“What I’m concerned about is that when you make the path so large, you make a motorway almost. You’re taking away a sidewalk, a pedestrian sidewalk that people want to walk on, and it’s troubling to me that we were never given any input into the process,” Lakewood resident Matt Herbeger said.
Residents also believe the project will impact the traffic pattern on Bunts and ultimately endanger lives.
“Every house is separated by driveways, so if you think you want to get motorized bicycles and regular bicycles and scooters and people walking and people walking strollers and walking dogs and everything, all on one path, and people going at high rates of speed, it’s a dangerous proposition,” said Lakewood resident Shannon Mortland.
Among those most concerned about the potential impact of the project on safety are students in the Lakewood School District, who walk along Bunts Road every day during the school year.
“There’s been many crashes here, but at least I know I’m safe on the sidewalk,” said Lakewood Middle School student Danica Herberger. “Once you remove that safety, I feel so unprotected. Will I even want to walk on Bunts anymore? The answer is probably not.”
Taxpayers and students in Lakewood have started separate petition drives to voice their opposition to the pathway project.
On one of the petitions, organizers wrote, “this plan was passed despite significant, passionate opposition from Lakewood residents and without input from the residents and taxpayers of Bunts Road.”
Their grievances have caught the attention of at least two members of Lakewood City Council, who believe the goal of the Bunts project to make Lakewood more walkable and rideable, should also factor in the safety concerns of residents.
“It’s the age-old balancing of all of the varying interests of our community and how do you do that? And how do you do it in a manner where all voices feel that they’re being heard and that they’re being listened to?” Lakewood city councilmember Angelina Hamilton Steiner said.
Residents are asking Lakewood City Hall to consider their input before moving forward with the project, which is scheduled to get underway in April 2026.
“Step back, listen and use common sense and just re-consider the project,” said Mortland. “We’re not asking you to cancel everything, just the multi-use path that doesn’t make sense.”
Read next >
Next
in