KJP

Don't. The few times I've seen someone on one of those Segways, they look like a freakin' robot! They're just too damn bizarre for me... A bicycle is just fine, thank you. KJP

Yep. Big yay! KJP

^I agree. Cleveland's problems are Cleveland's fault. No one is out to get us. They don't have to. We do a better job of knocking our own legs out from under us, better than anyone else. KJP

You sure are hopeful, and I so am I, but how can losing another large corporation to another city be considered as anything other than a failure??? Yes, we saw Cleveland and a suburb cooperate in an unprecedented manner. We saw us standing in the tall grass with a big dog and competed with him. That's all very nice. But there's something you're forgetting.... WE LOST Are we getting desensitized to losing? Are we so accustomed to losing that all have to hang on to are moral victories? You know what stops a losing streak? A VICTORY I'm still waiting, and yes, still hopeful we will win one. Otherwise I would have moved out long ago. But let's be brutally realistic here. Let's bag the koom-baya, let's-blow-some-sunshine-up-our-sore-asses charade. It's time to start getting pissed off, not pissed on. Were the odds against us? Probably. So you offer a better deal to beat your competition. So what if the CEO was from Chicago? He's a BUSINESSMAN. Offer him a better deal and, if he doesn't take it, he's got some explaining to do to his shareholders. He doesn't have a loyalty to Chicago. He has a loyatly to his company's bottom line. Sometimes I think we Clevelanders think if we wave our museums, our orchestra, our Metroparks and a few incentives in front of these rootless CEOs, they would keep their companies here. It's as if they'd be doing themselves a favor by staying in the city where their company has been since the beginning. This is the cold, unemotional business world. Stop pretending they're some family member you can guilt into staying put. So, why, please, did our local officials forfeit the game a couple of weeks ago by tendering their "final offer" to Office Max??? What the hell was that? The only time a final offer is made is when you win, or the other team flat-out beats you. Why state at all that you've given a final offer? What kind of negotiating is that??? If you want to stop a losing streak, you have to go the extra mile to turn the losing culture around. Punch the other guy right in the nose and let him know you're through getting pissed on. Do whatever you have to do in order to get a win. It's time to change the culture of losing around here. There is no nobility in losing, just as there is none in poverty. Both of those seem to be in awful abundance around these parts. If the losing streak doesn't stop, then it's time to bench the quarterback, fire the coach, replace the owner, whatever it takes. Because, sooner or later, no one's going to be left to watch the game and the team will fold. Demand more from your leaders, people! If you don't, then less is exactly what you'll get. KJP

While I can't physically walk to work -- it's 15 miles each way -- I do have the luxury of living three blocks from a one-seat, suburb-to-suburb bus ride to work. There's a bus every 15 minutes during rush hours, and it takes about 40 minutes to get from the east end of Lakewood to North Olmsted, near the county line. That's a pretty rare thing here in Ohio, one which I regularly take advantage of. And I seem to be doing a lot more of it lately when gas prices scooted past $2.50 per gallon. I've also noticed I'm not the only one. Ridership has visibly increased in recent weeks, and I've seen a lot more people take advantage of the bike racks, which every RTA bus now has. KJP

People like these flatliners in Bath make me wonder if mankind can cope with the peak oil crisis. I've seen a lot of deer-in-the-headlights looks on people's faces in the last few days. Speaking of which, does anyone want to buy my 2001 Hyundai Tiburon? It's a black sports coupe with leather interior, stick shift, XM satellite radio/CD player, sun roof, etc. Only serious offers should reply! KJP

Good to hear this news. I failed to notice in yesterday's article that the flatliners used their SUVs to block construction vehicles. Wow.... I don't think I've ever heard such illogical behavior from such allegedly responsible people. But being an addict (in this case to their oil-dependent lifestyles) makes people do all sorts of counterproductive, even self-destructive things. KJP

I hope one of the bulldozers runs them over. The gene pool would be greatly upgraded. Let's see...we prefer to poison our air with the fumes from dozens of cars (vs. one bus), prefer more sprawl (instead of less impervious land from having to build even more parking lots for their auto-centric lifestyles) and keep more cars off the road (instead of putting commuters on transit). And, hey, since I don't have anything better to protest, let's protest that (and compare this park-and-ride to Auschwitz). Just when I thought people couldn't get anymore stupid, I see this article. >> Bill Gribble, who helped block the truck, said he wasn't afraid during the standoff. ``I've done stupider things,'' he said. Whoops, I was wrong! I'd love to hear what even dumber things he's done (not really -- I want to have some hope for mankind). When I get bummed out about the direction of mankind, it's usually because of people in stories like these, whose already limited perspective and understanding of the world has been corroded by years of sucking on the exhaust from their SUVs, while driving their kids those long three blocks of bumper-to-bumper torture in suburban wasteland to soccer practice. If they don't like big-ass parking lots -- move OUT of the suburbs to the city! Buy a bicycle and a transit pass! Abandon your wasteful, resource consuming lifestyles! Repent O' Ye Lost Souls of Suburbia! KJP

Absolutely wonderful photographs! KJP

OK, someone's gotta a post of pic of the bridge building. I often show it to out-of-towners, and the love it. I think some of the visitors to this forum would appreciate it. I'll see if I have a picture of it around here somewhere. KJP

Except one of COTA's ideas was to build the Airport LRT east from High Street, near the OSU campus, along an NS mainline, to where I-670 crosses it. Then, the LRT would follow the south side of I-670 (atop the retaining wall) before heading into the airport grounds. The odd thing is that the airport authority's long-range plan would have the LRT ending at a complex of proposed parking garages, where people would be forced to transfer to an Airport People Mover to reach the airport terminals. Forced transfers don't sit well with me. Look at St. Louis' LRT, which makes a couple of station stops at the opposite ends of Lambert International. KJP

They all have cars? So what? Most people who take light rail in cities the size of Columbus have cars, but leave them parked in their garages... > In St. Louis, 68 percent of Metrolink's riders own two or more cars (Bi-State Development Authority 2000). > In Denver, 75 percent of RTD's light-rail riders own cars (MaryPIRG public survey 2003); > In Portland, 67 percent of the MAX's riders own cars (Houston Chroncle, June 12, 2000); > And, here's a neat little report out of Baltimore... http://marypirg.org/MD.asp?id2=10123&id3=MD& I get tired of having to do your research for you. KJP

Most mainline rail infrastructure can handle 80 mph, though federal regulations limit the speed to 79 mph unless a more interactive signaling system is provided to exceed 79 (that already exists between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, for example). But, to exceed 90 mph, FRA rules (sought by freight railroads) require a separate, passenger-only track whose centerline is at least 25 feet from the centerline of the nearest active freight track. That's where things start to get expensive. On some railroad lines, like the former New York Central line through Toledo, Cleveland and Buffalo, four tracks once existed where now there are two. There is enough room to add the third, passenger-only track for speeds in the 90-125 mph range without major regrading work. However, many railroad bridges still feature bridge decks in which the ties are bolted to the steel. To exceed 90 mph, these decks need to be replaced so the tracks set in ballast. Road crossings should feature full-closure features (like four-quadrant gates), while others may be closed and still more should be grade-separated. When speeds approach 125 mph (or higher), there should be no at-grade road or rail-to-rail crossings, signal systems need to feature in-cab displays with automatic train-stop (in case an engineer misses a stop signal), passenger tracks should be separated from freight, all railroad bridge decks should be ballasted, and tracks should be laid with concrete ties. And that's why it costs $25 million (or higher) per mile to approach the train speeds in France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdon, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia, China, South Korea, Japan and probably a few others I'm inadvertently excluding. KJP

Considering that high-speed rail on dedicated right of way costs upwards of $25 million per mile (or up to $75 million per mile for "mountainous" territory -- like the Alleghenies), we're a long way from ever building anything like that. What Europe did in the 1960s was upgrade their existing rail infrastructure for a faster passenger train service called the Trans-Europe Express, that operated at 100-125 mph. They then went the next step, building dedicated rail lines offering speeds in excess of 150 mph on many routes. Though many of those are just on trunk portions, from which high-speed trains branch off onto older railways where train speeds in excess of 100 mph are common. We are so far behind in this country, most Americans have no idea what a Banana Republic this is when it comes to transportation (and a few other things). For rail service, we first have to emerge from the Third World by building the infrastructure just to offer reliable train services at 80 mph. Then we will have what Europe had in the 1950s and early 1960s. Then, we upgrade to 110 mph, to catch up to Europe of the 1970s. After that, dreams of achieving 200 mph might seem realistic. Let's fix what we have first. KJP

FYI... KJP ___________________ NEWS OHIO RAIL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 50 W. Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215 (614) 644-0306 telephone or fax (614) 728-4520 http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stu Nicholson Date: August 2, 2005 (614) 644-0513 On The Right Track: Congress Takes Steps To Invest In U.S. Rails (An op-ed by ORDC Executive Director James Seney) "What part of what I'm saying do you not understand?" That's a question many of us who advocate for improved passenger and freight rail transportation have been asking our leaders of both parties in Washington for decades. But 2005 may be the beginning of the end of seeking answers to that frustrating query that would usually elicit blank stares or half-baked solutions. At last, there is significant movement underway in Congress to meet what I believe is America's most pressing transportation challenge. Legislation is now working its way through both Houses of Congress that would finally establish a national railroad development and funding policy toward both passenger and freight movement: something this most industrialized of nations has hasn't had since President Abraham Lincoln commissioned the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. This legislation also aims to finally deal with the nagging and endless debate over reforming and funding Amtrak. Within the past two months, Congressman Steve Latourette (R-Ohio) has introduced two bills: HR-1630 and HR 1631 in the House. Just this past Wednesday, Senator Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) introduced the Rail Passenger Investment and Improvement Act. There are some differences between the Latourette and Lott bills, but none would seem to be beyond resolution. And though details of all three bills are yet to be worked out fully in Committee, allow me to say that they are the most encouraging and promising developments on this issue many of us can remember. We believe both Latourette and Lott are (you'll forgive the pun) "on the right track." Long story made short: both bills would establish a first-ever national funding mechanism for what are a growing number of state and regional rail projects that would establish passenger rail service in short-haul corridors. These projects would also greatly expand existing rail corridors to provide greater capacity for moving the crush of increasing freight traffic that threatens to overwhelm our highway and air freight systems. The Ohio Rail Development Commission has been advancing such a project for almost three years, despite an almost total absence of a federal funding formula. The Ohio & Lake Erie Regional Rail / Ohio Hub Plan would establish an 860-mile network of high-speed passenger trains serving high-density, short-haul travel corridors in Ohio and several adjoining states and the Canadian province of Ontario. Additionally, it would greatly expand capacity for the freight railroads by adding more tracks, relieving rail and highway bottlenecks and improving signal and dispatching systems. Ohio is not alone in this effort. At least 24 other states are either working on similar plans or are actually funding and facilitating the operation of passenger and freight trains. What these plans have historically lacked is the same kind of federal support that has been directed traditionally at highways and commercial aviation. While we are not in a position to endorse specific legislation, we nonetheless have an historic opportunity to make significant change and avert what is a growing transportation crisis that will deeply impact our national and state economies. We have a choice to move forward and make that impact a positive one, or do nothing and ensure that a bad situation gets much worse. With the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials predicting a better than doubling of overall freight traffic over the next twenty years, it doesn't take a PhD to see what that means for the traffic we drive in, the air we breathe and ultimately our jobs, income and personal mobility. Now, pour that troubling news into a barrel of oil that is increasing beyond $60 dollars a barrel and gasoline that drains better than $2.25 a gallon from our wallets. By doing nothing, at the very least, we can stop calling them gas pumps and renaming them "wallet vacuums". Clearly, we need a better answer. The Latourette and Lott bills both address maintaining a national passenger rail system as well as long-term and needed reform of and funding for Amtrak. We applaud the recognition of this need, but saving and reforming Amtrak is not the only issue here. Thankfully, both Cong. Latourette and Sen. Lott have recognized the larger issue of redeveloping our overall national rail system for moving both people and freight. The Latourette and Lott bills may help guide us to a better solution. We urge the members of Congress and the Bush Administration to take this opportunity to take significant and positive action. Congressman Latourette and Senator Lott are reportedly already talking over each other's bills and seem willing to work together toward a common goal. The rest of official Washington needs to join the discussion and put this issue on the fast track to a sensible solution. (The Ohio Rail Development Commission is an independent agency operating within the Ohio Department of Transportation. ORDC is responsible for economic development through the improvement and expansion of passenger and freight rail service, railroad grade crossing safety and rail travel & tourism issues. For more information about what ORDC does for Ohio, visit our website at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/)

Here is what I wrote about it (in the second part of the following column) last month. If you want to comment on the Inner Belt project, there's a message string about it in the transportation section of this forum. KJP _____________ Sun Newspapers July 21, 2005 Write of Way Inner Belt a chance to rebuild city's core Ken Prendergast When taxpayer funds are used to build or rebuild a highway or other transportation facility, the goal usually is to maximize the public benefits from that investment. If the benefits are maximized, more private capital tends to flow to where the public investments are made. That happens whenever an interchange, a lane or other similar investment is added to a highway to increase its capacity of accommodating more vehicles. Unfortunately, since the Greater Cleveland area's population isn't growing, and that most of the clean and green open land is at the outer edges of Cuyahoga County and beyond, public and private capital continues to flow away from older parts of the city that need to reinvent themselves. That's why the $700 million Inner Belt reconstruction project is such a tremendous opportunity for the core city. But, the way the Inner Belt, a.k.a Interstate 90, is being designed, it could be a wasted opportunity. Yes, it's going to be a newer highway. And, yes, it's probably going to be safer, with Dead Man's Curve eased, fewer merging lanes, and a fifth lane in each direction across the Cuyahoga Valley span. The Ohio Department of Transportation should be commended for adding those features. But where ODOT and, more notably, the city are coming up short is to look at how a rebuilt Inner Belt can promote more economic development. It falls on city officials to tell ODOT how they want land to be used for the Inner Belt project. City officials should tell ODOT they want a new, shorter bridge across a more narrow part of the Cuyahoga Valley, and build it south of the existing bridge. They should do it even if it means demolishing or moving the Greek Orthodox Church of Annunciation in Tremont. If someone could move London Bridge to Lake Havasu City, Ariz., then the church can be saved, too. Instead, ODOT planners are seeking a longer, more expensive bridge for westbound traffic, north of the existing bridge. The old bridge will be rebuilt for eastbound traffic. Not only is that more expensive than it needs to be, it looks and sounds, well, goofy. City officials should also tell ODOT they want the Inner Belt moved south, away from Jacobs Field and put in trench, so that the St. Vincent-Quadrangle area isn't cut off from downtown. ODOT did that in Cincinnati, rebuilding Fort Washington Way in a manner that is enabling The Banks riverfront area to be redeveloped. And, they should tell ODOT to replace the long, one-lane, looping exit ramps to Ontario and East 9th streets with short, straight and three- or four-lane-wide ramps that take up less up space, yet can absorb rush-hour and special-event traffic. Combine all these scenarios, and it will open up the urban wasteland of the Central Interchange, south of Jacobs Field, with many of acres of prime, clean land for development. Plus, it will make the abandoned Norfolk Southern rail yard, just south of the Inner Belt and next to Ontario, more accessible to redevelopment. Problem is, when it comes to downtown highway projects, city officials aren't looking south. Instead, they are focusing mainly north, to the lakefront. There, city officials want to see the Shoreway rebuilt into a boulevard that will open up lakefront land for redevelopment. They also are eyeballing a possible boulevard to University Circle, as an extension of I-490 east from I-77. Both appear to be good projects, if designed to ensure the automobile doesn't dominate the urbanscape, and allows for high-density development sites, good transit, pedestrian and bicycle access to the areas through which the roadways will pass. City officials should take the same approach with Inner Belt, to attract more private capital to the urban core, rather than settle for a highway that only makes it easier for people to merely speed through downtown. In case you haven't already heard, Greater Cleveland's unemployment numbers have taken a dramatic turn. For those of us accustomed to bad economic news around here, we might expect the turn to be for the worse. Not true. Not only did Greater Cleveland's unemployment rate drop, it fell so fast it overtook the state's overall rate, which also declined. According to real estate firm CB Richard Ellis, Inc.'s Global Markets Report, the raw numbers for the second quarter of 2005 show the Greater Cleveland area's unemployment fell from 7.1 percent to 5.4 percent. Statewide, the rate slipped from 6.4 percent to 6.1 percent. However, our little corner of paradise is still above the national average of 5.1 percent — but not by much. Pacing the job growth was a rise in employment in the service-providing industries, where 6,100 jobs were added in the past year. Another big growth sector was in the production of goods, adding 3,700 jobs. Manufacturing, educational and health services saw a slight loss. CBRE noted another positive sign, that the downtown Cleveland office market appears to be stabilizing. In recent months, a number of tenants have agreed to move to downtown, or expand into vacant space. Tenants include Realty One, Case Western Reserve University, and National City Bank. All told, more than 200,000 square feet was gobbled up in just the last three months, reducing office vacancy rates from 22 percent to 21 percent. CBRE's market report noted a couple of big question marks remain, namely the fate of the Defense Finance Accounting Service and whether Charter One Bank's offices will be down-sized after its recent acquisition. But, the report was upbeat, noting recent market activity, plus the city's aggressive efforts to attract more technology firms downtown, and the pending creation of a downtown improvement district. "Cleveland's Central Business District has reason to be cautiously optimistic when looking to the next 12 to 18 months," the report said. END

Here it is, almost three weeks since CBRE issued that report, and I haven't seen word one from the PD on this. Was there anything in Scene or Free Times? Ahem...I did mention it in my Write Of Way column in Sun! KJP

Campbell ought to be careful. She's gonna get herself re-elected by forging partnerships like that. If Office Max and DFAS both stay, it's a cinch. KJP

They ride pretty nicely, plus there are the new red circulator buses which are larger, ride better yet, and carry more people. The red ones are used on busier circulator routes, like the one in Lakewood. By the way, do you know that you can get on/off circulators anywhere? You flag one down as you would a taxi and, when you're ready to get off, tell the driver where a little bit in advance of your destination. KJP

No, but I'm tempted to write an article about it for Sun. KJP

I just love these Jesus freaks that run our state (and federal) government. Each day we seem to move one step closer to a Christian Fundamentalist State. KJP

These low-income housing advocates make me mad. I'm sick of them proposing more warehouses for poor people and arguing against private investment in the neighborhood. Un-freaking-believable. Give them job training and a rent voucher to help them get out of poverty, and bring more market-rate homes to the neighborhood so that there's more wealth. More wealth means more stores and businesses. More stores and businesses means more jobs. More jobs means fewer people having to depend on public assistance and dispersing those concentrations of poverty. Three cheers to Joe Mazzola for stating what apparently isn't so obvious to these short-sighted people. KJP

Hey, I liked Port Stanley. There's a some old shops and restaurants by the waterfront, and a scenic railroad that departs from a depot near the dock that the ferry would use. As for London, they have a nice downtown area (as most Canadian cities do). Lots of restaurants, a galleria, some nice bike paths, etc. It's a pretty active town that's about the size of Akron but its skyline is much better (including as much high-rise housing as downtown Cleveland has). And, Toronto is two hours away by train, on the direct route that has five trains in each direction on weekdays (plus three more trains in each direction on the indirect route via Stratford, Kitchener and Guelph). My preference is to see a couple of these trains extended 23 miles south from London to Port Stanley to connect with the ferry. There is a railroad track on most, if not all of that right of way, but it needs upgrading. In the interim, connecting buses to London's train station should do. KJP

The Lakefront Boulevard is probably going to be in the same location. Look at the development sites that open up between the boulevard and the tracks. And, for access to the south side of the tracks, I would think the extension of West 65th Street northward will be quite beneficial. There are no plans for incorporating a rail transit line into the new boulevard. Plans are tol add transit stops for existing buses. Transitioning one lane in each direction as bus-only lanes shouldn't be too difficult, creating a defacto BRT. KJP

If you want to see a detailed vision of the Lakefront Boulevard and proposed development sites, check out the Cleveland City Planning Commission's website at http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/lakefront/cpc.html and click on "transportation" projects. KJP