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KENT PANEL TALK: The 2012 AMATS Annual Meeting featured a panel discussion regarding the ongoing redevelopment of downtown Kent. The panelists, from left, were, PARTA Planning Director Bryan Smith, KSU Senior Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration Dr. Stephen Storck, Kent City Manager Dave Ruller, The Burbick Cos. President, CEO and Chairman Dr. Ron Burbick, and AMATS Director Jason Segedy.

The 2012 AMATS Annual Meeting on Oct. 12 drew more than 150 attendees to the Sheraton Suites in Cuyahoga Falls.  This year’s meeting, which coincided with the agency’s 50^th anniversary as a metropolitan planning organization, was a tremendous success.

“We suspected that this year’s meeting would generate enthusiasm, but the level that we saw before, during and after – not only from attendees, but the day’s participants – greatly exceeded our expectations,” says AMATS Director Jason Segedy.

Segedy

The day’s events included a panel discussion regarding the estimated $100 million redevelopment of downtown Kent, a feature presentation by Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jerry Wray, and three informational workshops hosted by agency personnel.  Segedy was particularly proud of the give-and-take between the panelists and the audience regarding the redevelopment of Kent.

Segedy says that downtown Kent exemplifies what can happen when the public and private sectors work together.  Agency officials were proud to have the major players that are making it possible on hand to field questions for the benefit of other communities in the Greater Akron area.  The director notes that – while Kent may not be an exact development template for other communities to follow given their respective circumstances – the city’s dogged pursuit of connectivity principles that seamlessly blend pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle traffic should be.

Meeting attendees had the unique opportunity to hear directly from PARTA Planning Director Bryan Smith, Kent City Manager Dave Ruller, Dr. Ron Burbick and KSU’s Dr. Stephen Storck as to how their interrelated needs for transit and pedestrian access and improved downtown parking actually complemented one another instead of being at odds.

PARTA’s new multi-modal transit center, the $20 million federal TIGER grant that made the center’s construction possible, the Kent State University Esplanade, and Dr. Burbick’s Acorn Alley and Acorn Corner projects were all topics of discussion between the panelists and audience members.

The day’s featured speaker was ODOT Director Wray.  The director described the challenges that the department faces in balancing the state’s many transportation needs with current funding realities.

Wray

Wray said that the department is meeting its challenges through innovative project delivery systems and various cost-cutting initiatives, which have freed more than $400 million for ODOT’s major/new capital improvement program since 2011.

Agency personnel also hosted three informational workshops for attendees regarding Transportation Safety, Project Funding, and Connecting Communities and Planning.  Information from these workshop presentations is available on the agency web site on our Presentations page.