Shaker Heights awarded grant to help reconfigure Warrensville/Van Aken/Chagrin intersection

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio - Funds will be used to reconfigure the Shaker Heights intersection at the corners of Warrensville Center Road, Northfield Road, Van Aken Boulevard and Chagrin Boulevard, one of the busiest and most frustrating in the state, into a simple four-way crossing.

The $453,000 grant awarded to the city from the Federal Highway Administration brings the project funds to nearly $15 million. The total project will cost $17.4 million.

The money will be used for streetscape improvements, such as tree planting and landscaping, crosswalks and pedestrian amenities in the Warrensville/Van Aken (WVA) roadway reconfiguration, the first step in the district's redevelopment.

According to construction officials, the WVA roadway reconfiguration will reduce the intersection from six legs to four, close Van Aken at Farnsleigh, shutdown Northfield and relocate the road south of the intersection, create development parcels and the opportunity to extend the blue line rapid transit to a new transit center.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2013.

The FHWA grant to Shaker Heights was the fourth highest in the state.