SitemapThree years after the release of the U.S. 422 Corridor Redevelopment Plan,
Girard and Youngstown are making progress to transform the industrial corridor
that links them.
“We’ve gotten quite a few things done,” says Lauren Johnson,
manager of the 422 Corridor project. “We have a lot more that will happen in
the future.” The project is especially important to Girard. “The future of
development must include the beautification of that area,” Mayor James Melfi
says. Girard installed a welcome sign and landscaped sections of U.S. Route 422
shortly before the official release of the plan in May 2014. Youngstown began
landscaping stretches in Brier Hill near the entrance to the state Route 711
connector about the same time. The redevelopment plan aims to transform the
appearance of the industrial corridor, improve infrastructure and encourage
economic and neighborhood development in both cities. The Youngstown
Neighborhood Development Corp., the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber and the
Trumbull County Board of Commissioners helped bring together 14 organizations
to fund the comprehensive plan for the corridor, which was written by Interface
Studio LLC of Philadelphia. The funding phase began after the study was
released and Johnson was hired as project manager in November 2015. “This is
our legacy corridor,” she says. “This is where the steel mills were. So this is
some of the oldest infrastructure we have in the Mahoning Valley.” The project
extends from state Route 193 in Youngstown to Liberty Street in downtown
Girard. Much of the Girard side of 422 is made up of retail properties.
Industrial and warehouse properties dominate the Youngstown side. To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here.