clvlndr

Hopefully Obama's stimulous package, along with the current bailout package, can build banking confidence and ease credit restrictions to get FEB back on track. I think it's more a matter of "when" than "if" with this project -- it's too attractive, well planned and partially executed to simply fail. And the Wolstein's, as well as Frank Jackson, are firmly committed to it. Hopefully E&Y will remain commited to weather the storm.

to me its easier to come up to street level and walk outside. I've felt that was a waste from jump No way, MTS, at least during cold winter games at the Q. Even temp aside, it's much quicker and more direct, esp when you have to wait for traffic lights/cops during a usual heavy street-level auto rush to the parking lots -- and dotcha just like getting the normal Cleveland winter slush splashed on your pant legs while waiting for the cop/light? nothing like that in the dry, comfy Walkway ... Progressive Field's a bit different; it's farther away and not directly connected by the walkway. Plus, usually the weather is pleasant for baseball and you don't mind walking along Ontario. But the Walkway is still more direct from the Rapid.

Very nice.

Of course the PD took it's obligatory cheap shot at downtown. This editorial is childish and elementary. It sets up the false dichotomy that if the Inner Belt bridge is closed, which it should be if its safety really is questionable, downtown Cleveland would die. What a joke... Cleveland is so totally ill served by this rag of a newspaper.

It's kind of exciting for our national passenger train service to have the nation's #2 man who was a regular Amtrak user.

Agreed. I was just in the place last summer purchasing a Washington, D.C. tic for a relative and if rob hadn't said his pics were from 1979, I'd have guessed they were yesterday. Guess Amtrak's done a boffo job of keeping the joint up.

I sure hope the Circle 118 builders sufficiently soundproof the new condos as they will be directly adjacent to the busy, elevated NS freight corridor.

This sounds very good, but isn't there still an issue with the freight railroads in terms of capacity and insurance? If Akron-Canton are included, wouldn't it be a rerouting that would nix the Hopkins airport tie in?

I'm wondering if the increased hidden cost due to the instability of the Cuyahoga river bed is stalling things -- in addition to FCE's tiresome antics. I just don't see how the MM people are going to move forward with Cleveland's project if NYC starts building; 2 such projects probably don't make sense esp in the current economic climate. Plus, why should they continue fooling around with a Cleveland that can't make up it's mind where to build it in 3 years and sacrifice the glitz and greater market access of New York?

Let's see, NYC, the most powerful city in the world and doesn't need MM, is all set to build theirs, and yet here in Cleveland, a city that is in dire straights economically and needs it badly, is off picking it's collective nose as usual. And despite Fred Nance's happy talk, if New York starts building before ours, we're toast... Our leaders, esp the Commissioners, are hopeless. Tower City or the Mall: just pick a site and do the damn thing already... why always the foolish drama in this town?

Pres-elect Obama has already, yesterday, stated from his 2-part bailout packages, he plans for relief to states to support distressed cities (see "foreclosure relief" under Cleveland); plans which were, in part, hampered under W’s New Federalism, where plans – many of them infrastructure plans – were transferred (see ‘dumped upon’) the struggling states by the Feds. As for transit, Ford and Carter combined for rail progress in terms of new transit starts in cities. Also Carter liberalized urban interstate highway funding viz cities allowing cities to transfer designated hwy funding to rail transit start-ups and/or major expansions. Under this plan, Washington, D.C., under Marion Barry, cancelled I-95's extension through D.C. to complete the planned, full 100-mile Metrorail program -- completed in 2002 (then expanded 3 miles around 2004/5) -- which is why southbound I-95 today weirdly ends at the Beltway while a northbound piece of it, called I-395, juts north over the Potomac then thru a tunnel but dead-ends at New York Ave. In Cleveland in the late 70s/early 80s, there apparently were plans to transfer funding sitting on the books for Al Porter’s old defeated Clark Freeway, I-490 connecting to the freeway stub at E. 55 from – which, btw, planners are still fighting for a freeway lite in the so-called Opportunity Corridor to Univ. Circle – to planned RTA rail projects. But, as rail transit projects always seem to go in this town, squabbling “leaders” couldn’t make up their minds what to do and ultimately, as I understand, I-490’s $$ were either outright cancelled or transferred to other Interstate hwy projects in the area. As for Amtrak the Northeast Corridor electrification extension from New Haven to Boston was scheduled under Carter and was set to go until Reagan came in and nixed it, allegedly for fiscal conservatism -- although, as we now know, Reagan tremendously increased the nat'l debt by tremendous inflationary military spending. The NEC electrification thus lay dormant for 2 decades until the next Democrat occupied the White House, Bill Clinton, at which time it was finally completed and led to 1999's introduction of Acela -- America's 1st and only high-speed train project actually realized since WWII. The Acela saga may be indicative of where Obama is headed on Amtrak. As for highway expansion: despite Obama’s statement in the debates, I’d suspect he was merely trying to appease the ex-urban and rural vote; people who always love pork-barrel freeway expansion projects. Republicans were good at that so I don’t see Obama expanding this. My guess is Obama, to his word, will focus on road infrastructure: in particular, bridges like the Twin Cities’ infamous W35 (?) that collapsed last year. I do think Amtrak projects like Ohio Hub have a better shot to get done under Obama since there was already more favorable talk of it under Gov. Strickland and Sen. Brown, 2 new dems to their posts, and the Dem takeover of congress in 2006. Like FDR's alphabet soup agencies -- also during distressed econ times -- people were put to work and public services were improved. As for Cleveland transit, I don’t see much hope for any serious rail transit expansion other than, perhaps, the West Shore commuter rail project; a single, highly focused program being pushed by grass-roots All Aboard Ohio. As long as Joe Calabrese is RTA chief – a man who behaves like an anti-rail conservative Republican – rapid transit expansion, or serious rail commuter programs besides West Shore, have virtually no shot, at least not imho.

Circle 118's link: http://www.circle118.com/index.html

Even with the recent hardships of Wall Street, I'm licking my chops at Amtrak's (and other passenger rail's) potential under Obama who is uniquely committed, probably even more than Clinton, to infrastructure investment.

I've advocated for Tower City for MM/CC in the past, but at this point, I'm starting not to care: JUST DO SOMETHING – a novel concept that seems beyond the grasp of our current inept county commissioners – but it’ll only get worse if Debbie Sutherland gets elected. In truth, though, a North Coast transportation center should not be dependent on where they put MM/CC. It's obvious we can't have Ohio Hub or the Midwest Initiative or the Keystone Service extension or the 3-C corridor (or any serious commuter rail, either)... or whatever, at the crappy train facility we currently have – you’d think you’re in Peoria or Dubuque and not Cleveland (sadly/actually, those to burgs may best us Amtrak-wise). btw, what kind of federal share under current FTA guidelines could we expect for a new North Coast Trnsp Center? What guidelines changes could we expect under an Obama Admin? As noted in the above article and elsewhere, congressional Dems have already kicked aside Bush's Amtrak starvation funding for a much more stable $$ base ($13B/5 years is a start to which lame-duck Bush has capitulated)... If anything, Amtrak alone should be Exhibit A as to why anyone on this board who truly cares about finally, seriously expanding our beleaguered inner-city rail system should soundly reject McCain at the polls on Tues. McCain bristles at Bush comparisons, but on Amtrak (among many other issues), the 2 are Siamese twins.

Not so fast, the Cavs just blew another game in the Gaaaden as it were a repeat of last year's Cavs' elimination script at the hands of the Celts: Cavs dominate the 1st 2.5 quarters cruising to big (even double-digit) leads. Then they have their usual 3rd quarter collapse (just 13 points) at which time Boston seizes control and never looks back except for a furious run by the Cavs at the end (close, but no cigar as, once again, nobody can step up and sink the big shot or free throw); this time LeBron himself is a big cultprit, missing a 4-foot lay in he makes in his sleep, then blowing 2 of 4 free throws that could have backed Boston into a corner with under 10 seconds left... It's only 1 game, though, and Brown, as well as the Cavs, themselves, are still trying to find their way with all the new faces... There were some good signs, like Mo Wms pushing the ball up court and LeBron in the post at times. But Gibson was ice cold and we committed 22 turnovers: no way you can do that and expect to beat Boston, esp at home.

You're right. This is one time the typically Cleveland: 'screw the City until I get mine' may really cost us bigtime.

With the credit crunch hindering financing of the project which, in turn, is hindering the City's floating of bonds for infrastructure, I wonder if a good faith move by the City to fund independently, the infrastructure improvements to trigger a reverse, up-the-chain, credit unfreezing. The plans are too specific and advanced, the demolition is too complete for the City (or County) to allow this land to sit fallow as it currently is. As we've seen, there's already been foundation work for at least one of the buildings -- the office tower, if I'm not mistaken. Why not? The County just came off $500K for K&G to keep the Breuer Tower project moving as well as increase the sales tax to finance the Med Mart conv. center project, which unlike FEB, has not yet tangibly moved forward. With the financial crisis dooming NCB along with thousands of jobs, and Eaton's thumbing it's nose at FEB, this latest news is the cherry atop one disastrous few months for the City. Is Univ. Circle's Uptown development the next big project to fall?

Nice job on a classic Cleve hood... these shots could post on a Howard-Hanna OC home tour.

It certainly won't help and makes it even more imperative that K & G is able to rehab the Breuer tower catty corner across the street.

^^ I'd really hate to see CWRU demolish the Morley. That portion of campus -- the old CIT quad, is rather drab with a lot of 50s-60s International Style boxes to which Morley offers a sharp contrast. Aside from the gorgeous Amasa Stone chapel and Adelbert main, the oldest campus building, there's not much to look at on CIT quad (unlike Gothic the FSM College for Women campus on Northside ... You can't replace that type of architecture; it'd be a horrible waste. I've got to believe there's some use for which this historic structure can be put to. ... do you mean S & H is going to have street level biz/retail to mesh with the Euc nextdoor?

Jerry, the large Juvenile Justice Center going up a few blocks of the E. 105/Quincy Red Line stop, is progressing quickly. I know you mentioned the plan was ultimately for RTA to lengthen the platform long enough to accommodate 2 or more cars at once, like the other standard Red Line platforms. The question is: when? Given the immense size of this complex (on theretofore vacant land) and it’s potential to be a RTA trip generator with employees, attorneys, families, etc., it's easy to project that, once JJC opens, ridership at the E. 105 stop could double, triple or more, esp during rush periods. I've witnessed how cumbersome it is to have everybody entering/exiting the 1st car (usually the 1st door) of a 2 car train -- inevitably, there is at least 1 or 2 people on every train who don't understand they need to be on Car 1 and will come screaming through the train fighting to get off (it seems RTA has done a poor job posting this fact to the public). As someone who rides this line occasionally to the U. Circle area from downtown, it’s a hassle as it is – one I know will get slightly better with the POP rollout in December, but still a pain in the butt even then. And it can only get worse. I’d hate to see RTA get caught with its pants down when the JJC opens. When is RTA planning to move on expanding E.105, esp given the fact the E. 105 bridge (years after the Quincy bridge) has been rebuilt over the tracks for over a year now? While the other station re-builds (Puritas, E. 120) are very important, it would seem, E.105's expansion would be top priority at this time.

Amazing building. Art Deco at its best. The museum is great, but lets get more Amtrak (and maybe commuter) trains back in there.

Nice photography as art... It's interesting (and kinda sad) that, had you not mentioned it, I'd think those photos were recent... except for the clue of Key Bank under const on Public Square. It's uncomfortable to say, but from a distance, at least, downtown hasn't changed all that much in nearly 2 decades.

^^ No question, electrification is a very large capital expense, even when ROW building is minimal, esp over 20-some miles. But given the tricky fuel cost issues... Yes, I noticed those gantlets you mention on the new high platform stations on my (very excellent) South Shore interurban Line adventure from Chicago to South Bend and Notre Dame a few weeks ago. What an amazing, anachronistic and just plain weird transit line South Shore is: an American treasure… Guess I’m kinda liking the idea of Cleveland creating it’s own mini South Shore experience with the Lorain commuter line viz the RTA Red Line into Tower City much like S. Shore and the Metra Electric into Millennium/Randolph station in the Loop.

One more factor that could (perhaps should) tilt toward Lorain commuter rail electrification/Red Line expansion: Wikipedia notes in its RTA Rapid article that RTA plans to junk 20 Red Line trains when it enters into it's mid-life, rehab program of the remaining 40 due to current over-capacity. Could not those other 20 cars be retained and retrofitted for the Cleveland-Lorain service? Sure would, I’m sure, be a fraction of buying new cars, plus repair/maintenance facilities for these cars already exists at E. 55th. It would seem to make sense given the facts, as KJP has noted, the existence of power distribution lines already strung along the corridor, zero downtown Cleveland terminal costs (aside from new signage), direct grade-separated connection given the Red Line's industrial fly-over east of West Blvd and minimal, if any, right-of-way building aside from stringing wire -- and even here, light weight, cheaper catenary, like that of Chicago/Indiana's wood-pole, South Shore line, could hold costs down. How would this compare to costs of other mode choices?