HOWLAND — When Ohio Department of Transportation District 4 officials fielded questions about the diverging diamond project, some in attendance expressed confusion about the sidewalks built into the project’s diagram.

Howland Trustee James LaPolla, who attended the meeting last week and spoke with some residents about their concerns afterward, said the sidewalks dated back to their long-range plan, which was formulated eight to 10 years ago.

“We had the concept of converting the area from what is now the diverging diamond region to 422 as our light business district,” LaPolla said. “We understood that a lot of the residents there were selling their homes to Lowe’s and to other types of commercial properties — for example, car washes, etc. It was looking like this is gonna be a commercial corridor, and we figured we’ll go ahead and accept that fact.”

LaPolla said that since these developments have occurred, officials also have discussed transforming East Market Street into an area where people can walk, with the assumption that they could walk up to storefronts in a manner that could mimic the suburbs of Cleveland or Columbus.

Howland Planning Director Kim Mascarella said officials have heard from residents — dating back to 2010 — that the township wasn’t very walkable, leading them to question how they could change the built-in environment to accommodate more pedestrians and cyclists.

Mascarella said information came out in the township’s 2010 version of its long-range comprehensive plan, which featured a community survey.

She said in response to that, the township began requiring all new development in areas deemed “priority pedestrian corridors” to put in their own sections of sidewalk.

“So as you go down 46, south of 82, you’ll see a couple of sections of sidewalks, like Flynn’s Tire has a little section. Optima Dermatology has a small section,” Mascarella said. “The long vision is to have sidewalks down 46 and up 46 on the north end to hook in with North River Road.”

Mascarella said people walk for reasons beyond leisure — getting to work and school, or to visit friends and shop, and they wanted to make the built-in environment a safer space because of that.

Mascarella said Route 82 was seen as a “barrier” to get individuals north of it to south on Route 46, leading officials to talk to ODOT about incorporating sidewalks early on in the planning phase.

Since 2010, the comprehensive plan has been updated every two years, as reflected by the township’s webpage dedicated to it.

“We did update the comprehensive plan back in 2023, and those plans went through a robust public comment period where you could survey the residents. Once again, pedestrian accessibility rose to the top,” Mascarella said. “Residents are still very interested in moving around the township on foot or by bicycle — in addition to their vehicle.”

With the sidewalks that will be in the diverging diamond and fears of potential pedestrian collisions, Mascarella reiterated the township’s obligation to make the environment as safe as possible.

“We’re going to see accidents — the nature of the diverging diamond is to make that environment safer for vehicles and people walking up and down 46 as it is,” she said.

“We want to make it safer for everyone, and that’s what we’re trying to do, by talking with ODOT early on in the process.”

Mascarella said in terms of plans for other sidewalks, they did an East Market Street corridor study. While it already has sidewalks, residents reported they still felt unsafe because the sidewalks are right next to the street, and it has a high volume of accidents.

“Out of that plan, it was recommended that a multi-use path be put on the north side of East Market Street; keep a sidewalk on the south end, and then do a road diet,” Mascarella said. “That means taking it from four lanes down to three lanes and giving a little bit more space back to the pedestrians and bicyclists.”

She said it’s a project for the township in the coming years, as officials will likely need to look for funding.