gottaplan

I actually had an hour long phone conversation with Sen Patton about the Shoreway project last year. He said he'd support it if mayors of his district wrote letters of support for it. He said he grew up in the West side neighborhood near the Shoreway and knows how important it is, but also said Cleveland hasn't done a good job of getting the project accomplished. Only now it seems they are rallying support and getting on the same page. Last year Frank Jackson barely supported the project and couldn't be bothered to call state leaders when a vote was in the state house to lower the speed limit, the first step to the boulevard conversion. Also, I think Robert Clark Brown was removed from the TRAC board for not attending meetings. He's not listed on the website here either. http://www.dot.state.oh.us/trac/Pages/Meet%20theTRAC.aspx Sure hope they get him replaced with someone from the Cleveland area.

^Cool, thanks for the link. Nice add for Josh Kabat and his latest sandwich venture downtown

Interesting side note is that Michael McMichael is the first person charged in this entire County Corruption case that hasn't been found guilty or plead guilty... makes me wonder how many others might have beaten charges if they had gone to trial.

GPO acquitted of all charges except lying to FBI agents. Seems odd that Nieheiser got three years for bribing him, but the flip side was nothing. Neiheiser should've had his case tried with GPO's. And the guy from Siemens was acquitted also...

Checking the rumor mill, has anyone heard an update on the "Toast" winebar on 65th? It was close to opening back in 2009, but their liquor permit was scuttled by the church next door. I heard it's back on now though????

I support this project 100% but can't believe that Cleveland leaders haven't done a better job stacking the deck on that TRAC board to get the funding pushed through... there is nobody from the Cleveland area on it. No wonder they didn't score the project highly...

Great renderings. Does anyone know yet if this project has spurred any spinoff development or renovations to the existing remaining buildings along Old River Road perhaps? Should be a solid demand for some new lunch places & such with that many people coming in...

And there never will be any of that so long as it stays a limited access 50 mph freeway...

One comment I found interesting - back in grad school Albert Ratner came in & spoke about about downtown Cleveland development. Someone asked if he would have gone ahead with buying Terminal Tower & Tower City buildout if he knew then what he knows now. He didn't really say but it was obvious the deal has not been a money maker. Makes me wonder how long FCE was willing to hold on to the property just hoping for something like this casino deal to come along.... obviously decades

Whoa... are you serious? This is Cleveland, there won't be high rollers in the casinos... Go see who goes to the casinos nearby now in Niagara, Detroit, Wheeling.... anything but high rollers Comparing Cleveland to Wheeling is flat out dumb.....Cleveland will definitely have more high rollers than you're expecting. Please explain... because I know plenty of people from Cleveland that travel to Wheeling to gamble and none of them are high rollers. Edit - never mind, this is a dumb argument and shouldn't clutter up the Tower City forum.

Whoa... are you serious? This is Cleveland, there won't be high rollers in the casinos... Go see who goes to the casinos nearby now in Niagara, Detroit, Wheeling.... anything but high rollers

Correct, nothing is shovel ready on this project and I think they are taking a much closer look at the railroad portion since they are having such a problem with soil conditions at the 76th tunnel. ODOT needs to update the "fact sheet" for this project, because it's already out of date with what they published this summer. The fact sheet they have posted on the project website indicates that 25th/28th work is part of Phase 1C. http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D12/Documents/6.15.11%20Lakefront%20West%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf I emailed the ODOT office back this summer for an update on the 73rd connection (when they announced it was being delayed another 2 years) and the response indicated there was ALOT of work to do with the railroad bridge, the mainline sewer relocation, and acquiring the property necessary to make this connection (some type of trucking/warehouse) at the corner of 73rd & Caruso. I expect the price for this work will jump again because they just don't fully know what the work consists of yet.

Plot seems to be thickening on the case against the CMHA chief. Sounds like he'll definitely be convicted on charges of making false statements to federal agents. http://www.cleveland.com/countyincrisis/index.ssf/2011/12/fbi_agent_chma_board_chair_con.html

I hear you about "moving on" but there's a big difference between prosecuting former administration, and prosecuting some renegade banking execs who violated their own procedures and signed false documents... I don't think "too big to fail" has anything to do with it either. Taking a stand and throwing the book at a few individuals might go a long way. Doing nothing on the other hand...

Plenty of beautiful vacant Catholic churches

Back to the recession, in light of the recent federal commission on the causes why haven't any banking executives been prosecuted for the low doc, no doc, liar loans or the robosigning scams? 60 Minutes did a story on it again this week...

So many false statements here.... If the Shoreway boulevard conversion was approved tomorrow, we wouldn't see construction for another 3 years at the earliest. Innerbelt will be wrapped up by then. It takes that long to prepare biddable actual construction plans, put it out to bid, award contracts, etc. Us vs them? Driven by emotion? This project has been ranked as the #1 transportation priority behind the Innerbelt bridge by local business community. doesn't help the image of the urbanist movement? Please step down from your soapbox before you fall & hurt yourself...

327, you're talking about an unforeseen emergency that redirected cars, buses, etc. The Shoreway was essentially CLOSED with no notice!!! Of course traffic was backed up!!! Big difference between that & a 10-15 mph slow down (which probably won't be enforced). It's ridiculous to draw comparisons between a weather emergency and some planned slight reduction in speed which keeps the same # of lanes... How about the sewer project which closed a lane in both directions right at the Westinghouse curve which didn't impede the flow of traffic whatsoever... forget it, I can't believe I got sucked into this conversation again.

327 - please go back & review my comments from the meeting last week. What you've proposed is essentially what is likely to be built. The funding is in place for 73rd connection, possibly 25th/28th intersection, and everything else is about 10 yrs out or never. Sound good to you? By then, the existing Shoreway pavement will be crumbling, Obama will be in his 4th term, gas powered personal transit will be a thing of the past.... and that landscaped boulevard conversion will make a lot of sense. So let's take this argument back up in 9.5 yrs, ok?

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/ohio_offers_tax_breaks_to_30_c.html

Corruption trial began today for George Phillips of CMHA & Michael McMichael from Siemens. I hope the prosecution has more damning testimony than the taped phone calls thus far because those don't seem to implicate much other than some guys partying on a trip together. What is the penalty for making false statements to federal agents? http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/12/county_corruption_trial_begins.html

Quite a bit of news recently from Kasich on economic development, surprised nothing's been posted here. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2011/11/28/encouraging-signs.html It makes for quite a month for Gov. John Kasich, who began working to bring and keep employers in Ohio before he even took office. On Tuesday, he visited MAC LTT, a Kent company that employs 60 people making liquid tank trailers and plans an expansion that will bring 200 more jobs. A full-bore economic renaissance that will benefit the entire state depends on many complex factors, most obviously a broader and stronger economic recovery nationwide. But the initiative shown by Kasich’s team and the incentives they offer prospective employers are critically important to sealing deals.

327 - you're not a fan of the project, I get it. What I meant when I said "everyone agrees is so vital" was the councilmen, the mayor, the state congressman, etc...

tea baggers? 250 city employees? What? Yes there was easily 250 people there, big contingent of bike enthusiasts, but also neighborhood members from the Ohio City, Detroit Shoreway & Clifton/Edgewater. Councilmen Zone, Cimperman & Westbrook were all there along with Ken Sillman, Chris Warren from Mayor's office, Mike Skindell & some lady from Kucinich's office. Someone commented that the Cleveland business community ranked the Shoreway project as the #1 transportation project priority behind the Innerbelt bridge, but they apparently have no sway with the TRAC members and apparently there is nobody on this board from the Cleveland area. Apparently there was but they were dismissed after not attending meetings. Unbelievable. Alot of underlying comments indicating "they don't like us" meaning Columbus doesn't want to help Cleveland's urban projects. But the more details come out, it seems like a lot of missed opportunities from Cleveland leaders to make sure this project, which everyone agrees is so vital, is not getting done.

Not good. Pretty much all bad news. Where do I start... Nobody from ODOT was there. The TRAC funding scoresheet was reviewed and it's unfathomable the project didn't score higher. The renovation of the 76th tunnel that was started in 2010 is still on hold due to issues with the RR slope stabilization. The costs for the interchange at 73rd are getting higher by the day and that's becoming unlikely. The work at the 25th/28th intersection, probably the most needed aspect of the project from a safety standpoint, is so far out, it shouldn't even be considered a reality in my opinion. The actual boulevard conversion is a pipe dream at this point. That's just my take though, anyone else who was there, feel free to share your take