State, regional officials to take new look at controversial Strongsville/Brunswick interchange [Video]

COLUMBUS, Ohio—State and regional officials are preparing to take the next step toward resolving the long-running battle over a proposed highway interchange between the cities of Strongsville and Brunswick.

Sometime this fall, the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency will hire a consultant to develop a plan to reduce traffic congestion around Strongsville, the two agencies announced Friday.

The study will investigate, among other things, whether the best way to reduce that congestion is to build a new interchange connecting Interstate 71 with Boston Road, on the border of Strongsville and Brunswick.

Strongsville has argued for years that a on Road interchange is needed to reduce traffic along state Route 82, the next exit north along I-71. Brunswick city officials have denounced the idea, saying it will lower nearby property values, destroy homes in the path of on- and off-ramps, and turn a residential country …