gildone

Two items: 1) This article mentions how the Airport Improvement Program doesn't pay for itself: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/mcgee/2017/03/29/airports/99744116/ 2) I fail to see how Hopkins needs a brand new airport with 4 new concourses when it has an unused concourse now. I'd prefer @Dougal's approach: $750 million depending on passenger needs. I would add, the other $1.25 billion would be better spent on something like the 3C Corridor.

From 2015, but still apt for today This is our system: one big Ponzi scheme attempting to prop up a rolling development extravaganza of strip malls, big box stores, fast food and cheap housing. You want to spend more on this? No New Roads https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/1/5/no-new-roads

Petty pushback against Charles Marohn of Strong Towns: I'm pushing for safe streets. Some engineers want me to go away. For the second time, a fellow professional engineer has filed a complaint against me with the state licensing board. For the second time, my license to practice engineering is now under formal review. For the second time, I am threatened with losing my professional licensure and, with it, the credentials that give me the opportunity to pursue a career in engineering. And for the second time, the inspiration of the complaint is opposition to my writing, speaking, and my overall push for reform within the engineering profession. This is a sorry state of affairs.... https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/7/30/i-am-pushing-for-safe-streets The pettiness of human beings always amazes me.

Here's the map from their website:

The Great American Rail Trail will connect Washington, DC with the Pacific Coast in Washington State. The trail would come through Ohio utilizing what will be a portion of the Cleveland to Pittsburgh Trail and the Ohio to Erie Trail: Great American Rail Trail website: https://www.railstotrails.org/greatamericanrailtrail/

The Industrial Heartland Trail Network intends to connect up a bunch of existing bike trails in NE Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northwestern West Virginia, and the western-most county in New York state. The network will be 1500 miles. One of the trails is the Cleveland to Pittsburgh (C2P) trail, of which all but about 44 miles is complete in Ohio (it will use the Towpath for much of the Ohio segment). It would enable one to access the Towpath Trail in the Flats and bike all the way to Washington, DC on dedicated bikeway via the Great Allegheny Passage Trail and the C&O Canal Trail (ditto anyone who has access to the Cleveland Metroparks multi-purpose trail on the west side).

Brightline Reaches Halfway Mark in Extension to Orlando www.floridadaily.com/brightline-reaches-halfway-mark-in-extension-to-orlando While it looks like this article was just a re-print of a Brightline press release, there is a key part here: Brightline will also bring service to additional city pairs and congested corridors across the country that are too close to fly and too long to drive, with immediate plans to connect Las Vegas to Southern California. Similar to how Brightline plans to operate its service to Orlando, the tracks on the West Coast will run on existing transportation corridors. It looks like the pandemic isn't slowing Brightline down. It also makes me wonder if Amtrak is suddenly pushing expansion because of Brightline's intent to expand around the country. Whatever the reason, it's a good thing that Amtrak wants to expand, and Brightline's expansion plans haven't changed.

That was Harshaw Chemical.

NOACA is doing a downtown mobility survey. they are taking comments until 6/13: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/dd18fe755cf4473eb5b9b17284a01193

To be fair regarding Towpath, the last segments from Harvard Road into the Flats had things like brownfields issues that needed to be addressed and, if my memory serves, property acquisition negotiations. Those things really slow projects down, particularly the brownfields. Part of the trail goes through the old Harshaw Chemical plant site, after all. That said, this is completely different from very easy and inexpensive changes to city streets that can be done much sooner to create segregated bikeways as GISguy illustrated with the pictures he posted. This isn't rocket science. Things like the Midway Network are great because they really enhance the aesthetics and feel of the areas they serve and would really be magnets for development. But waiting for a Cadillac when a Chevy will get the job done just fine in the mean time isn't the most effective way to go about this. And I agree... sharrows are worthless.

@foraker... Thanks. The more I've thought about this, the more I've come to realize that having it in the middle of the street isn't that big of a deal. It's still a giant leap forward. In the Netherlands, they put these off to the side and run streetcars or buses down the center, but sometimes, depending on the layout, the bike and pedestrian traffic intermingle a bit too much. And the design in Indiapolis doesn't seem to create unsafe issues with cars, but from the looks of the videos I've seen, their downtown streets are more heavily trafficked than Superior and aren't as wide, so they probably aren't comparable. It will be interesting to see what happens with re-development with the first leg. Protected bikeways have been magnets for devopment elsewhere. As for funding, Indy got $15 million in private funds for their protected bikeway. It shouldn't be hard to raise some private $$ here.

Time for me to dial back my criticism. My foray into learning about bicycle planning in Cleveland is very recent, so I'm not yet fully up to speed. I didn't know about the Midway Cycle Network. I scrolled back through the comments here and while there was discussion about it, I didn't see a link to this September 2019 video posted in this thread. I do have a question for folks... Indianapolis didn't put their protected bikeways in the middle of any streets. It seems to me that this hampers the relationship between the bikeway and businesses along the street. Thoughts?

From the City Beautiful YouTube channel. Bike Lanes Aren't Good Enough. Link at bottom to the case studies mentioned in video. U.S. case studies of projects that have created safe space for bikes: http://www.rethinkingstreets.com/

Indianapolis converted portions of several miles of downtown streets to protected bikeways... 7 years ago! The Indianapolis mayor championed the project and raised a lot of private dollars to pay a portion of the cost. Cleveland should not have allowed itself to be lapped by Indianapolis on this one.

Did you see the video I posted in the Complete Streets thread?: Why Cars Rarely Crash Into Buildings in the Netherlands: Proper traffic calming would. We often design streets for speeds that are higher than posted speed limits. They encourage speeding.

Suburbs That Don't Suck Another great video by Not Just Bikes. Traffic engineering mandates in the US and Canada that prioritize the movement of cars combined with car-centric zoning codes has turned our suburbs into ugly, soul-crushing waste lands.

No. I apologize, but I don't. I only recently discovered him. As far as I know, there is only his his 2020 book: Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity right now. The Confessions book isn't due out until September.

Why Cars Rarely Crash in Buildings in the Netherlands Another impressive video from Not Just Bikes highlights the serious shortcomings of US and Canadian road design:

Regarding the conversation about where to locate Cleveland's Amtrak station, Tower City or Lakefront.... I got to thinking that the best overall solution with the maximum benefit, even though it would be expensive, would be to both relocate Amtrak to Tower City and do the Lakefront Bypass to get freight traffic off the lake. Not only will it get 10,000 foot freight trains off the lakefront, it opens up multiple possibilities, such as opening up the current lakefront line up to allow RTA to run the Waterfront Line through Asia Town and Midtown and connect it up with the Red Line at E. 79th. Another possibility is that the rail ROW could be turned into a fully grade-separated bike route that would connect the Fairfax and Kinsman neighborhoods to the lakefront. On the west side, it would allow a grade-separated bike route from Cudell to the Lakefront too. For the North Broadway neighborhood that would be affected by the re-route with additional train traffic, a sound wall along the south side of the tracks as well as either a quiet zone crossing or a grade separation for the E. 65th St. could address that. The north side of the tracks there is all industrial and wouldn't need a sound wall. It would be interesting to see a full economic impact analysis of all of the options for the Amtrak station, and the various possibilities it opens up, including this one. Really, and economic impact analysis should be done anyway so we can find out what will provide the best return on investment. I know it would be an expensive option, but it could possibly be worth it.

Now it's going to stop in Toledo and be 75% underground. Hype, hype, hype... https://www.13abc.com/2021/05/12/great-lakes-hyperloop-project-proposal-includes-stop-in-toledo/

We'll see if this comes to pass and how serious it turns out to be, but nonetheless it's an example of the fragility created by a transport system that is overly dependent on cars. This would more likely be a non-event if cities were more walkable and had good bike infrastructure and better transit, and we had more rail and bus options for intercity transport. ‘Summer scramble’ for gasoline on tap amid tank-truck driver shortage https://www.marketwatch.com/story/summer-scramble-for-gasoline-on-tap-amid-tank-truck-driver-shortage-11619717324

Do Your Buses Get Stuck in Traffic? Traffic solutions & the Downs-Thomson Paradox

The Bicycle Roads of Amsterdam. Can't get much more "complete streets" than this:

Designing cities that allow car access, efficient transit, and segregated bike infrastructure aren't as difficult to achieve as many might think:

Making car-light streets that are safe for pedestrians and bikes isn't that difficult: