I was doing some biking yesterday and noted the constant flow of semi truck traffic coming from the W25th exit of the Flats, and leaving via W25th or across the Detroit Superior Bridge through to Huron.    Most of them were multi-axle dump or flatbed steel haulers.  Most of them were probably also overweight, leading the the deplorable condition of the roads in these areas (check out the ruts and humps at the east approaches to the DS Bridge.

 

I was just wondering, has there ever been an idea to put in a Flats trucking route to I 490?  To me this would make sense--beef up the roads down there in an industrial district, and get the truck traffic off the up-and-coming Ohio City and Downtown streets. 

 

If it were to happen, what routes would you suggest?

 

 

^This is definitely a problem.  When sitting at restaurants in OC on W. 25th, our dining/relaxation is usually marred by 3 types of traffic noise: EMS vehicles and their screaming sirens to/from Lutheran Hospital, groups of bikers with the loudest/showiest cycles imaginable and huge tractor trailers and dump trucks.  Not much you can do about the 1st 2 (well, maybe not the 1st if cops enforced noise ordinances viz the 2nd), but it did occur to me that the big trucks could/should be rerouted.  There is obviously no adequate north-south route from I-90 East/Shoreway to the factories and I-71 or 90 west; at least, not in the minds of truckers.  They must dislike and avoid the Inner Belt, esp Dead Man's Curve just south of the Shoreway.  Oftentimes it is a slow bottleneck.  So instead, they opt for W. 25th.  I wish big trucks like these could be banned from this area, esp. W. 25, particularly around Market Square... It's not only annoying, it doesn't seem all that safe either.  It may, unfortunately, take a major tragic accident to get pols moving on this, although you'd have to think some of the yup-scale residents aren't already making a stink about it.

Why yes, there was such a plan, and not that long ago. About 10-15 years ago, a Flats truck route was proposed to be built on the former Erie Railroad along the base of the West Bank's hillside until it bridged over Scranton Road and turned east just north of Tremont. Some of this is now the route of the Towpath Trail.

 

EDIT: formal name was the Cuyahoga River Valley Intermodal Connector Roadway or the Flats Intermodal Connector Roadway.

I am wondering if a good portion of that truck traffic will go away once the innerbelt project is complete.  Seems a lot of those trucks are headed that way.

Also on the eastside I do notice more trucks heading to the flats via the 'newer' E 9 th st. extention. And it will probably be used more once the Ontario/Orange realignment and the Eastbound bridge are complete.

I was doing some biking yesterday and noted the constant flow of semi truck traffic coming from the W25th exit of the Flats, and leaving via W25th or across the Detroit Superior Bridge through to Huron.    Most of them were multi-axle dump or flatbed steel haulers.  Most of them were probably also overweight, leading the the deplorable condition of the roads in these areas (check out the ruts and humps at the east approaches to the DS Bridge.

 

I was just wondering, has there ever been an idea to put in a Flats trucking route to I 490?  To me this would make sense--beef up the roads down there in an industrial district, and get the truck traffic off the up-and-coming Ohio City and Downtown streets. 

 

If it were to happen, what routes would you suggest?

 

 

I've been saying this for years, so it's cool to see a thread dedicated to it.  West 25th development I think is really being held back by the amount of heavy truck traffic it gets.  Totally kills the pedestrian experience when 18 wheelers rumble/roar by

There was also a southern end component to this called the Quigley Connector. These were all in response to a new federal program called National Highway System Connectors. An early version even had a railroad track embedded in the middle of the roadway's pavement like a streetcar but would be for freight, thus it became an intermodal connector and the name remained after the rail component was yanked.

I thought this was what the E. 9th Street extension was built for.

I thought this was what the E. 9th Street extension was built for.

 

Good point!  I think that may definitely change the truck traffic routes once it's fully open