Staff photo / Brandon Cantwell Katie Philips, an urban planner with MS Consultants and project manager for the Belmont Avenue corridor plan, updates residents and trustees on the “Build a Better Belmont” plan at Monday’s Liberty trustees meeting. The plan is a collaboration between Youngstown and Liberty.

LIBERTY — There are about three more months before planning officials have to deliver a finalized plan to revitalize a frequently used corridor connecting Mahoning and Trumbull counties — and on Monday, residents received an update.

Officials heard from Katie Philips, an MS Consultants urban planner and project manager for the Belmont Avenue corridor plan, which was funded in July 2025 after Youngstown paid $140,000 provided by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to create an action plan.

The Belmont Avenue corridor’s section being discussed involves a 4.7-mile stretch between downtown Youngstown to Churchill Plaza in Liberty — a joint project between the two entities, according to Liberty Trustee Arnie Clebone.

Officials began discussing the project in August 2025, and an open house in November of that year provided the findings of the Build a Better Belmont strategic plan. Officials conducted several focus groups involving Youngstown State University in early April to better understand residents’ needs and desires for the area.

DEMOGRAPHICS

In terms of data collected, Philips said they looked at and compared the corridor area’s population and its changes over time, as well as housing and vehicular access. Philips said approximately 5% of residents around the corridor do not own a vehicle, while 36% have one vehicle available to them.

Phillips said numbers like that share a “big story” to planners.

“It means there might be people sharing a car, it means some people might be using other modes of transportation,” Philips said.

Regarding Youngstown, Philips noted there wasn’t as much housing along the corridor, adding that 24% of residents lacked a vehicle and 39% only had one vehicle available to them.

Philips acknowledged healthcare jobs are a major workforce driver along the corridor, noting hospitals such as the Carl Nunziato VA Clinic, situated next to the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, which opened in late January.

Philips said 73% of Liberty’s housing is single-family, slightly higher than Youngstown’s along the corridor at 61%.

SAFETY

Philips noted the corridor lacks pedestrian infrastructure, with 54% of Belmont’s crosswalks having striping.

“That means there are areas on Belmont to cross that have no indicators that a pedestrian might be crossing there,” Philips said. “We also look at curb ramps — are we being accessible to people moving in a wheelchair, or have any other sort of disability?”

Philips said planners collected data from the Western Reserve Transit Authority, which also has offered feedback on the plan, about busing usage, noting that the system saw 216,000 riders between 2024 and 2025.

“They’re using the hospital, they’re going to the stores, they’re going to the restaurants, et cetera,” Philips said. “It’s a very important route in terms of commerce and getting people to Belmont.”

Philips said they looked at vehicular traffic, noting there are four different locations along the route on the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Improvement Program, which uses a data-driven approach to target locations with histories of fatal or serious injury crashes.

“The Belmont Avenue-Churchill Road intersection is on this list of excess crashes; we also have the whole half-mile area around Gypsy (Lane) and Belmont, we have Belmont Avenue and Liberty,” Philips said. “Things can happen, accidents happen, but obviously, cars are interacting with pedestrians — it’s not going well for the pedestrian, as you could imagine.”

PUBLIC DATA

In addition to focus groups, Philips said planners had a steering committee that they touched base with along the way to collect feedback, which included YSU students, a local business owner and hospital employees.

“Street lights come up a lot — we hear a lot of people saying they want street lights. A lot of people are saying they want sidewalks, so that’s not super surprising,” Philips said. “Bus shelters came up (and) refining signage.”

Philips said they conducted a community survey that elicited 409 results, with a majority being Liberty residents.

“One of the questions we asked: What are your top priorities for Belmont Avenue? 66% said more local businesses, 57% said storefront improvements and 55% said street or sidewalk improvements,” Philips said.

Philips said 61% of residents said they didn’t feel safe walking along Belmont and 64% said they didn’t feel safe biking, with enhancing crosswalks, repairing sidewalks and installing separated bike lanes cited as solutions to improve safety.