Context 

Youngstown, like many other legacy cities, has seen a steady decline in industry, jobs, and population over the past century. The city’s infrastructure, built for a city of 170,000, is not what the current city of 60,000 needs and is putting a strain on municipal capacity to maintain it.   

 In downtown Youngstown, streets were too wide for current traffic volumes. This excess capacity was leading to high-speeds and making it hard to cultivate a vibrant downtown safe for pedestrians and people to visit. It also led to maintenance costs associated with maintaining the unnecessary road miles. In an effort to right size downtown’s streets to current demand, Youngstown is positioning itself to meet today’s needs and attract development opportunities and talent to the city. 

The Project 

Youngstown’s SMART2 Network is a major infrastructure project that will connect community employers, institutions, and attractions in the city’s downtown. It connects Youngstown State University, Mercy Health, Youngstown Business Incubator, Eastern Gateway Community College, and the Western Reserve Transit Authority’s Federal Station. The project includes redesigning streets for pedestrians and cyclists, converting traffic lanes into sidewalks and bike paths, and incorporating emerging technologies through an autonomous shuttle. 

The Eastgate Council of Regional Governments, Youngstown’s MPO (metropolitan planning organization) was the lead applicant for the BUILD (Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development) grant, which was awarded by USDOT in December 2018. Youngstown’s Mayor, City Council, public works department, and economic development department were all instrumental in securing and implementing the project. 

Phase I improvements were completed in 2021 and Phase II in 2023. The final pieces are under construction now and all work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024. 

Why This Project?

The impetus for this project came out of public engagement meetings. Planners shared the infrastructure dilemma and tested the public’s appetite for development downtown. As discussed above, downtown’s roadway infrastructure was built for a larger city and its maintenance was putting strain on city capacity. Public transit options are limited, and the conditions before the SMART2 Network did not support pedestrian or cyclist safety, with narrow sidewalks and essentially no bike travel options. The public was on board with a redesign.

Eastgate prepared a cost-benefit analysis to demonstrate the cost savings of a road diet. The analysis calculated an estimated $17 million in savings from crash reductions due to traffic calming measures, $9 million in property value increases, and $5 million in roadway maintenance savings and long-term benefits.

It took three applications before the SMART2 Network was awarded the BUILD grant. At each iteration the coalition reworked the proposal, changing the lead applicant from the city to Eastgate COG, bringing on a consultant for technical assistance, and ultimately adding in the autonomous shuttle component. USDOT provides feedback debriefs with declined applications, and Youngstown and Eastgate used that feedback to improve their application each time.

Project Specifics

Street Improvements: Six downtown streets were redesigned to be complete streets, reducing the number of vehicle travel lanes, expanding sidewalks and in some cases, adding bike lanes.

• Front Street

• Federal Street

• Commerce Street

• Phelps Avenue

• 5th Street

• Park Avenue

The redesign made significant modifications to these streets including converting angled parking to parallel and adding medians, bus stop pull-ousts, bus stop waiting areas, crosswalks, bicycle traffic sensors, sharrows, green lighting, rain gardens, and landscaping.

Autonomous Shuttle: The SMART2 Network project application included an autonomous shuttle, in part due to the application’s heavy emphasis on emerging technologies.

 The concept has changed since its inception in 2018. The current plan is to have a 10-seat shuttle bus with a driver for the first six months and then re-evaluate. It should be delivered in the fall of 2024. The city contracted the shuttle service after releasing an RFP for services. The chosen company will operate the shuttle for the first six months then extend the contract or turn services over to the Western Reserve Transit Authority.

How Was It Funded?

The SMART2 Network project was funded through a combination of federal, state, local, and private dollars.

$1,450,000:  ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission) Funds [federal]

$10,853,192:  BUILD (Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development) Funds [federal]

$5,000,000:  SIB (State Infrastructure Bank) Loan Funds [state]

$360,000:  ODOT State Preservation Funds [state]

$4,879,451:  STBG (Surface Transportation Block Grant) Funds [federal, which state awards]

$2,538,156:  CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) Funds [federal, which MPOs award]

$2,080,609:  Local Share (combination of city, private institutions, and local nonprofit funding)

$27,161,408:  Total

The BUILD Funds, ODOT State Preservation Funds, STBG Funds, and CMAQ Funds each required a 20% match from a non-federal source to receive the full funding. The SIB Loan was used by the city to cover their local share of the project cost, offering more favorable terms than a traditional lender.

The ARC grant was awarded for the installation of fiber conduit to establish a broadband network in downtown Youngstown.

What Are the Outcomes?

Bringing People Back Downtown: Perhaps the biggest success of the SMART2 Network project thus far has been Phelps Street. It was one of the first segments to be completed, turning the block between Commerce and Federal Street into a pedestrian gateway. It is now used for night markets, holiday parades and other events organized by the city. The plaza supports the businesses lining it but bringing additional foot traffic to the area and keeping people downtown for longer periods of time.

From Downtown to the Neighborhoods: The city has taken a core and corridors approach to its development strategy. The SMART2 project is stabilizing the core and bringing activity back to downtown by narrowing the streets, making them friendly to pedestrians and cyclists, as well as vehicles. Upon completion, the city will move its attention to the corridors that stretch into Youngstown’s neighborhoods.

The Healthy Community Partnership-Mahoning Valley (HCPMV) has played a key role in advocating for complete streets throughout Youngstown. This partnership is comprised of philanthropic funders, health districts, nonprofit service providers, private citizens and others. Using the SMART2 project as an example of how these improvements benefit the community and residents, HCPMV wants these same elements incorporated in future infrastructure projects. By engaging with members of City Council and city administration, HCPMV aims to get feedback, identify champions, and educate on how these changes could benefit neighborhoods.

Several such projects are already underway. Youngstown has plans to improve Mahoning Avenue heading west and Belmont Avenue to the north. The city is exploring ways to address nodes and transit stops, as well as improve safety for all users. Bike lanes are being considered on Mahoning Avenue but are not feasible on narrower streets. The SMART2 Network has set a blueprint and strategy for how other roadway improvements will be designed.

The city has set its sights on several downtown roads that were not included in the SMART2 Network project as well. Boardman and Walnut Streets have been funded for similar improvements and are now in the design phase.

Community Reaction: The reaction to this project has been mixed. Some business owners in the downtown core have been adversely affected by the construction. Because the scope of the project was so large, the construction pace has felt slow, frustrating business owners. Some were unhappy with the loss of on-street parking spaces, but overall, there was not much pushback on the design.

What Made It Successful and What Can Other Communities Learn From This Project?

The key to success of this project was building a coalition of partners. Bringing together the city, Eastgate, university, transit authority, and private corporations to coalesce around an infrastructure project had not been done before in this region. It showed the funding agencies that the project had a broad base of support and capacity to implement.

This project proved to Youngstown that they can compete at the federal level. Often it seems that funding is awarded to the larger cities and small municipalities can’t achieve these large-scale projects. The SMART2 Network shows that smaller cities like Youngstown can compete and deliver when a team of regional actors assemble to implement the project.

In respect to receiving the federal grant, staff at Eastgate COG encouraged applicants to write their applications exactly to what the merit criteria is. Eastgate told the city (and then its staff) to look at what reviewers want to see out of projects and had the grant writers build their story around those expectations. In Youngstown’s case, it was not just about repaving some roads, it was about making Youngstown a place where people want to be and connect and want to incorporate emerging technology through the shuttle.

Residents and business owners were involved during the planning process and that mitigated complaints: Early and sustained involvement and communication helped these important stakeholders understand the realistic timeline and long-term benefits.  This high-level of engagement has led critics to become project champions (or at least neutral) and has helped affected stakeholders see the changes as improvements rather than disruptions.

Other Projects

Several other transportation-related projects are in development in Youngstown. These projects are not directly related to the SMART2 project, but they demonstrate the snowballing effect that is possible when complementary projects build off each other.

Federal Station Renovation : In 2023 the Western Reserve Transit Authority of Youngstown received a $2.9 million RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant from USDOT to redesign the Federal Station transit center. This renovation will include an indoor waiting area, parking garage, electric car and bus charging stations, and access to e-bikes and rideshare services. A possible residential component could also be included if a funding partner is secured. Construction is expected to start in 2026 and will take 2-3 years to complete.

While this project is not a direct result of the SMART2 Network, it will undoubtedly enhance the work that has already taken place downtown.

Yogo Bike Share: Yogo Bike Share is a family-run start-up in Youngstown. The company was conceived in 2019 but was slowed down by COVID the following year. They officially launched on April 15, 2024, with 29 bikes available for rent. This multi-modal business can now take advantage of the new bike infrastructure in downtown Youngstown. Not only are the separated bike lanes safer for cyclists but the traffic speed throughout downtown is dropping substantially, making biking in traffic far less stressful.

Eastgate, Youngstown, and area institutions made a choice to invest significantly in the pedestrian and cyclist experience. Narrowing the streets to meet the current demand will aid the city in bringing residents and visitors downtown and giving them safe streets to explore. Now that construction is mostly complete, the results are clear, and Youngstown is ready to apply these same ideas to its neighborhood streets.