U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes urges Congress to lift obstacle to Akron Innerbelt transformation
U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, has introduced an amendment to a U.S. House of Representatives bill that, if passed, would unfreeze $10 million in funding for the Akron Innerbelt project.
The amendment to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Reconciliation bill would continue funding the U.S. Department of Transportation's Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, including the Innerbelt project.
Sykes, who is a vice ranking member on the committee, on Jan. 8 announced that the department would issue a $10 million grant to the city of Akron to support the Reconnecting West Akron Innerbelt Project. The project is an effort to re-envision and make full-scale, to-be-determined changes to the recessed land through which the partially decommissioned Akron Innerbelt runs.
The 20th-century construction of the freeway, one of many "urban renewal" efforts that were popular at the time – and in this case, one undertaken to accommodate suburban commuters – decimated a majority-Black neighborhood.
On Jan. 20, the first day of President Donald Trump's second term, the Trump administration froze all Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding. On April 17, a federal judge ordered the administration to take "immediate steps" to reinstate the funding, Utility Dive reported. The roughly $1 trillion infrastructure law, passed in 2021 under former President Joe Biden, catalyzed the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
"Prior to its construction in 1970, this area was a vibrant community that was home to many families of color, including my family before their house was torn down," Sykes said. "However, due to redlining and discriminatory practices, many of these families and businesses were displaced as a four-mile-long, six-lane highway was constructed that cut through central Akron, disconnecting downtown and West Akron."
About 11 of the 40 acres of highway are currently being used, Sykes said.
"Today, the constituents of Akron are finally seeing a resurgence of engagement in conversation with their government on the local level and federal level," she said. "However, due to the actions of the Trump administration, this funding has been paused with no end in sight, leaving the city of Akron and many other communities across the country with projects that will not see funding."
The city of Akron also received a $960,000 planning grant in March 2023 from the Reconnecting Communities program.
Ohio's 13th Congressional District, which encompasses all of Summit County and parts of Stark County, has received more than $176 million in investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Sykes said. She added that the funding has created "good-paying union jobs" and "more accessible transportation" for people who live in and travel through the district.
By: Patrick Williams
Source: Akron Beacon Journal