Mayor Malik Announces Next Step in the Innerbelt Planning Process

The City of Akron is inviting community members to help shape the future of the decommissioned Akron Innerbelt. The journey continues with a community workshop on January 8, 2025 at the Ed Davis Community Center (730 Perkins Park Drive) from 5 PM to 8 PM. This meeting will provide an update on the master planning process including progress made so far and will allow the city to gather additional feedback from residents to help guide the master plan. This marks the next step in this collaborative planning process. All those planning to attend should RSVP for free at the Eventbrite link here.  

In August 2024, Akron selected a team led by Sasaki, a nationally recognized planning and design firm, as a partner on the Innerbelt master plan. Since then, the team has been busy laying the groundwork for success. This includes applying for $10 million in federal funding to support future transformations of the site and recruiting Akron-based community coordinators to ensure local voices guide the process. 

“The future of the Innerbelt is about reconnection,” said Akron Mayor Shammas Malik. “The city has been engaging with former residents of this area for several years now as we’ve led up to this master planning process. Each step has been taken hand in hand with those who were most impacted by the building of the Innerbelt, and it will continue to center their voices and experiences as we get closer to laying out a path for the Innerbelt’s future. I invite the community to join us for this upcoming meeting to learn more about the process ahead.”  

The Innerbelt master plan builds on the City’s 2021-2023 “Reconnecting Our Community” Initiative, which focused on conversations about the Innerbelt site’s past and the community’s vision for its future. By fall 2025, the master plan will deliver actionable recommendations for developing the Innerbelt site in ways that reflect the community’s needs and aspirations. 

The Master Plan 

The Innerbelt master plan puts the community at the heart of the process. Unlike the top-down planning approach that led to the highway’s construction, this planning effort will rely on collaborative decision-making with the community. No decisions about the future of the Innerbelt have been made yet, and the plan will be shaped through dialogue, engagement, and shared ideas over the next nine months.  

Next Step: Community Workshop on Jan. 8, 2025 

The first workshop will take place on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at the Ed Davis Community Center (730 Perkins Park Drive) from 5 PM to 8 PM. The theme is “Level Setting,” focusing on bringing everyone up to speed on the master plan process, sharing progress so far, and gathering residents’ insights, experiences, and aspirations to guide the next steps. 

More information about the workshop and the Innerbelt master plan process, visit www.akroninnerbelt.com.