treesketcher

it hasnt been cancelled yet...

Im with ya all the way; just want to make sure Kasich feels he has more to lose than gain by killing this when the fight comes to a head.

So the question is, can we get the 3C done without ODOT? It runs on private property and is heavily supported by cities along the line...right?

Other than being a big supporter of Kasich, I can't understand their motivations. Is it also to stir up controversy in order to sell more newspapers? Can somebody enlighten me?

Columbus, German Village area (actually in Merion Village).

^Awesome! I really wish I was in town next weekend, darn.

So we have plenty of water, lots of renewable and clean(er) non-renewable energy, plenty of prime farmland and fresh food, infrastructure, big cities with lots of amenities, and small towns with charm. We need to be market ourselves as the sustainable region!

I guess i just haven't seen graphics that demonstrate the long-term benefits and vision of the project; both the rail system itself and the associated land-use benefits. This is an excellent start. Sometime I think the reason these projects have such a hard time getting traction is that the general public is not provided objective data and graphics to fully comprehend the benefits this will provide. Those of us that are familiar with the project may see this as intuitive, but this is all brand new to folks that are not transportation or land use planning experts.

Awesome! I'm glad to see the land use benefits and long term vision being explored as part of this project! I think too, it may be somewhat realistic (with all the right pieces in place) to push this forward 5-10 years; so a 20-25 year timeframe instead of a 30 year one. I think (hope) the prospect of a 1:30-2 hour trip from Cincy to Cleveland is one that the state will get behind sooner than later.

Yeah, this political fight that is going on right now is so silly that I can't imagine a lot of young people who were genuinely interested in investing their adulthoods here are still whole-heartedly willing to do so. I think we'll continue to see Ohio people move to larger cities in the south and southwest, Chicago, and the coasts; all of which have "lifestyle amenities" that we here in OHio should have but get in our own way. I just think we need to better tie into the vision of a truly connected great lakes and northeast region. We could/should have every bit of the draw that northern europe has from a tourism standpoint, but we dont because we dont truly invest in/value our cities and their support systems.

wow, the last two posts almost seem to go hand in hand! Could this be a manufacturing boon to Ohio?

but everyone can use crumbling roads, right? ;) maybe the trucking lobby will quiet down now that they got something they wanted?

http://www.campusapts.com/Ancillary.aspx?PageID=15&Proj=101 http://www.lifestylecommunities.com/the-annex-at-river-south/overview Town Street is ok near the library, often overlooked and library park is very cool. I would also check Craigslist, you might be able to rent someone's condo for what youre willing to pay.

Anyone know if Ohio applied for any funds?

that is exactly the plan; step 1 is conventional service, step 2 is higher speed, 110 MPH service. The state signed a contract to study the 110 service, which is part of the process to get funding for construction. http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/07/19/ohio-hub-advances-as-passenger-rail-connections-to-toledo-and-pittsburgh-studied/

"The market should determine what modes of transportation people use, not government." Does this guy know anything about government? He makes it sound like government plays no part in transportation...

Look at the projects that have been funded for CONSTRUCTION in the last few years versus those that were funded prior to that (including the 3C, barring the controlling board stuff). There have been huge changes and things are actually getting done. This can only come from the leadership of the Governor and ODOT director. Put Kasich in there and there is zero chance of state supported passenger rail, local transit, bike/ped facilities, and complete streets. All funding will be directed to highway expansion once again and the local municipalities will have less of a chance of getting multi-modal projects off the ground.

I dont disagree that this shouldnt be a campaign issue, but Kasich and the rest of the crew has made it one by flat coming out against passenger rail. I am not a partisan die hard, i just think that Strickland really has done a lot to help Ohio in more ways than just one project. We have seen a complete change (for the better) in transportation policy in the last few years and Im excited to see what 4 more years might bring with it. Top-level policy change is really the key to making substantial impacts; it opens the door for the local entities to get multi-modal projects funded; which otherwise couldn't get funded purely with local dollars. The entire country is moving more toward a multi-modal approach to transportation. if we go back to auto-centric both in infrastructure investment and private industry, we will continue to lose young people and potential economic growth.

Of course it is an achievement of Strickland's... Ohio didnt have to apply for the money, and it was clearly a priority of Stricklands to put together a quality proposal. Ohio could have put together a crappy proposal and got nothing or very little like various other states around country.

yeah, i think that would be a really good response to the dumb dhl commercial on right now. Strickland needs to demonstrate what he has done and what the potential of his current moves have on job creation - its pretty obvious he's losing that battle to Kasich smear stuff. Kasich wont offer any solutions so strickland can squeeze him to suggest his actual solutions, which i suspect are unrealistic, impossible, or nonexistant as they have been already.

this is a nice thought, but the city of columbus has absolutely no control over Jerome Village now that Marysville is providing water and sewer. It would be great if Columbus Housing Partnership or a developer like them could provide a more urban residential alternative to this JV sprawly type of stuff in the areas you mention. Empty lots in urban neighborhoods are prime for basically the same type of housing that is being proposed for JV.

just a thought and idea. Would it be possible to look at creating an additional one round-trip-per-day express service for the 3C right off the bat? Maybe only stops in Cincy, Dayton, Columbus, and Downtown Cleveland? This isnt to upset the other communities on the line; but more to address the criticism of the line being too slow for people to ride the whole way; i would assume this would knock off at least 30-45 minutes from the total route time. I realize this would take a significant amount of study and is somewhat unprecedented but it seems to me like the 3C is kind of unprecedented for a start up with the number and proximity of major cities to be served.

how profitable will this new bridge be? where is the business plan? how much will this cost the state per year to operate? No one will ever use this bridge! 65 MPH is way to slow for a brand new bridge - if i cant go 120 miles per hour, its not even worth building. Bridges are 1st century technology; havent we moved forward since then? I heard the firm that designed the new bridge is baaaaaaad. The new bridge is ugly and noisy. Can't we take the money for the bridge and invest it in our neighborhoods and local businesses? This bridge will never happen, ODOT is going to build the pittsburgh to chicago bridge instead! Why doesnt this brand new bridge take me to my front door? Even when i get off the bridge, theres nothing to do and nowhere to go! This will take 20 years to build and by then we'll all have flying cars.

I can't believe this stuff gets published... To summarize the article: One day i bought a hamburger at a restaurant in Boston for $20 and therefore i thought all hamburgers everywhere in the world should cost $20.

My guess would be that the FRA is just being slow and could be overwhelmed right now with everything going on with new rail projects. Plus, in the second paragraph, the FRA just recently changed requirements; so this could be complicating/slowing down the first part of the project.