Took the OC from the Clinic through 490 at about 2pm today and traffic was very busy, as they were actively planting trees on a nice day. But what struck me is the amount of "ready to go" land that has been opened up for development.  I hope it becomes more than a place to put warehousing. It can be much more than that. Also I wonder if 490 is in the future plans for a makeover because it needs it.

28 minutes ago, freethink said:

I hope it becomes more than a place to put warehousing. It can be much more than that. 

Here here!  

Unfortunately, warehousing is the hot commercial sector right now.

12 hours ago, freethink said:

Took the OC from the Clinic through 490 at about 2pm today and traffic was very busy, as they were actively planting trees on a nice day. But what struck me is the amount of "ready to go" land that has been opened up for development.  I hope it becomes more than a place to put warehousing. It can be much more than that. Also I wonder if 490 is in the future plans for a makeover because it needs it.

490 rehab estimated spring of 2024 right now 🙂

53 minutes ago, Enginerd said:

490 rehab estimated spring of 2024 right now 🙂

 

Should be really rough by then!   Especially now with the OC open and fleets of SUVs crossing from Avon!  

23 hours ago, Cleburger said:

 

Should be really rough by then!   Especially now with the OC open and fleets of SUVs crossing from Avon!  

Maybe that’ll keep the speeds reasonable 😛

 

I was neutral on the naming...until I finally saw it on highway signs when driving through yesterday.    Something about "Opportunity Corridor" on a highway sign makes it seem like we are desperate in Cleveland.   Or perhaps, that the corridor actually lies to the west, somewhere between Cleveland and Toledo... 😜

 

Garrett Morgan Blvd would not have this same effect.   

I always thought it was a stupid name but thought it was just a place holder.  Guess not for now.

After the success of the first Star Wars movie, the sequel was filmed under the code name "Blue Harvest" to avoid press attention and while George Lucas decided on what the final title would be. That eventually became The Empire Strikes Back.

 

Meanwhile, in Cleveland, we are living with the Blue Harvest of boulevard names.

Edited November 19, 20213 yr by mu2010

I actually like the name Opportunity Corridor (or Boulevard).  It matches a major piece of the road's intent.  Another suggestion could be Van Swearingen or Nickel Plate Boulevard, recognizing the railroad right of way that the road follows or the railroading brothers that helped build Cleveland a hundred or so years ago.

 

As a side note, I believe that Mr. Morgan already has a water filtration plant and a high school ar W45th and Detroit named after him

We'll see what the Bibb administration does in this.

 

Pretty sure that selling naming rights was at least somewhat on the table at some point, and I know the issue of naming the road came up at least in periphery in public meetings and the like. Not sure if that ship has sailed or if Mayor Frank just wanted to let the next mayor deal with it.

4 hours ago, mu2010 said:

selling naming rights

Bobby George Way here we come! 🤣

On 11/18/2021 at 9:46 PM, freethink said:

 

Seeing cars kind of "populate" in the video along with the music, makes me feel like I am watching a Sim City trailer.

Sam being Sam yesterday on the OC.   I agree with some of his take that the road was mainly constructed for the benefit of commuters.  What is developed there is an entirely different story...

 

A Little Bit of Avon in the Forgotten Triangle, A Play by Play of Driving the Opportunity Corridor

Posted By Sam Allard on Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 7:15 am

 

They are still calling it "Opportunity Corridor." Like, that's literally the name of the street, on street signs. Orlando Baking Company is now located at the corner of E. 75th Street and Opportunity Corridor. The Juvenile Justice Center is on Opportunity Corridor, just before Quincy, and so on. 

That this chamber-of-commerce branding persists in the absence of the promised opportunities is of course embarrassing, but it also confirms what many feared all along: that the branding was never more than propaganda to convince residents of Cleveland's poor, predominantly black southeast side neighborhoods, where 30-40 percent of residents don't even own a car, that a $260 million road from I-490 to the Cleveland Clinic would be more than a road.  

 

the rest: 

 

https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/11/30/a-little-bit-of-avon-in-the-forgotten-triangle-a-play-by-play-of-driving-the-opportunity-corridor

3 hours ago, Cleburger said:

Sam being Sam yesterday on the OC.   I agree with some of his take that the road was mainly constructed for the benefit of commuters.  What is developed there is an entirely different story...

 

A Little Bit of Avon in the Forgotten Triangle, A Play by Play of Driving the Opportunity Corridor

Posted By Sam Allard on Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 7:15 am

 

They are still calling it "Opportunity Corridor." Like, that's literally the name of the street, on street signs. Orlando Baking Company is now located at the corner of E. 75th Street and Opportunity Corridor. The Juvenile Justice Center is on Opportunity Corridor, just before Quincy, and so on. 

That this chamber-of-commerce branding persists in the absence of the promised opportunities is of course embarrassing, but it also confirms what many feared all along: that the branding was never more than propaganda to convince residents of Cleveland's poor, predominantly black southeast side neighborhoods, where 30-40 percent of residents don't even own a car, that a $260 million road from I-490 to the Cleveland Clinic would be more than a road.  

 

the rest: 

 

https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/11/30/a-little-bit-of-avon-in-the-forgotten-triangle-a-play-by-play-of-driving-the-opportunity-corridor

Sam really sounds like he needs to move out of Cleveland. (Or maybe he's the "Cleveland Lover" type that boo's Baker Mayfield while he's on the field...) either way - he sounds miserable. The whole take is completely blind to the multiple projects that are being talked about - it's an ASTONISHING piece of willful blindness. 

On 11/20/2021 at 11:36 AM, mu2010 said:

We'll see what the Bibb administration does in this.

 

Pretty sure that selling naming rights was at least somewhat on the table at some point, and I know the issue of naming the road came up at least in periphery in public meetings and the like. Not sure if that ship has sailed or if Mayor Frank just wanted to let the next mayor deal with it.

 

Clevelanders being Clevelanders, if someone buys the naming rights we will still call it the OC.

6 hours ago, Cleburger said:

Sam being Sam yesterday on the OC.   I agree with some of his take that the road was mainly constructed for the benefit of commuters.  What is developed there is an entirely different story...

 

A Little Bit of Avon in the Forgotten Triangle, A Play by Play of Driving the Opportunity Corridor

Posted By Sam Allard on Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 7:15 am

 

They are still calling it "Opportunity Corridor." Like, that's literally the name of the street, on street signs. Orlando Baking Company is now located at the corner of E. 75th Street and Opportunity Corridor. The Juvenile Justice Center is on Opportunity Corridor, just before Quincy, and so on. 

That this chamber-of-commerce branding persists in the absence of the promised opportunities is of course embarrassing, but it also confirms what many feared all along: that the branding was never more than propaganda to convince residents of Cleveland's poor, predominantly black southeast side neighborhoods, where 30-40 percent of residents don't even own a car, that a $260 million road from I-490 to the Cleveland Clinic would be more than a road.  

 

the rest: 

 

https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/11/30/a-little-bit-of-avon-in-the-forgotten-triangle-a-play-by-play-of-driving-the-opportunity-corridor

 

6 hours ago, Cleburger said:

Sam being Sam yesterday on the OC.   I agree with some of his take that the road was mainly constructed for the benefit of commuters.  What is developed there is an entirely different story...

 

A Little Bit of Avon in the Forgotten Triangle, A Play by Play of Driving the Opportunity Corridor

Posted By Sam Allard on Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 7:15 am

 

They are still calling it "Opportunity Corridor." Like, that's literally the name of the street, on street signs. Orlando Baking Company is now located at the corner of E. 75th Street and Opportunity Corridor. The Juvenile Justice Center is on Opportunity Corridor, just before Quincy, and so on. 

That this chamber-of-commerce branding persists in the absence of the promised opportunities is of course embarrassing, but it also confirms what many feared all along: that the branding was never more than propaganda to convince residents of Cleveland's poor, predominantly black southeast side neighborhoods, where 30-40 percent of residents don't even own a car, that a $260 million road from I-490 to the Cleveland Clinic would be more than a road.  

 

the rest: 

 

https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/11/30/a-little-bit-of-avon-in-the-forgotten-triangle-a-play-by-play-of-driving-the-opportunity-corridor

 

My response several places was:

"Having never commuted to the Clinic along the previous route"

Obviously.

On 12/1/2021 at 9:28 AM, Cleburger said:

Sam being Sam yesterday on the OC.   I agree with some of his take that the road was mainly constructed for the benefit of commuters.  What is developed there is an entirely different story...

 

A Little Bit of Avon in the Forgotten Triangle, A Play by Play of Driving the Opportunity Corridor

Posted By Sam Allard on Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 7:15 am

 

They are still calling it "Opportunity Corridor." Like, that's literally the name of the street, on street signs. Orlando Baking Company is now located at the corner of E. 75th Street and Opportunity Corridor. The Juvenile Justice Center is on Opportunity Corridor, just before Quincy, and so on. 

That this chamber-of-commerce branding persists in the absence of the promised opportunities is of course embarrassing, but it also confirms what many feared all along: that the branding was never more than propaganda to convince residents of Cleveland's poor, predominantly black southeast side neighborhoods, where 30-40 percent of residents don't even own a car, that a $260 million road from I-490 to the Cleveland Clinic would be more than a road.  

 

the rest: 

 

https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/11/30/a-little-bit-of-avon-in-the-forgotten-triangle-a-play-by-play-of-driving-the-opportunity-corridor

 

Scene is insufferable, truly. Off topic but they were at it again yesterday, blaming the Cleveland Clinic for Tr**p's COVID antics at the debate vs Biden last year (as if anyone blames the Clinic for Tr**p's behavior). They will take any chance they can get for a dumbed down hit piece against their chosen villians. They think it makes them saintly crusaders for the disadvantaged. Though the actual community members and organizations have moved on and are trying to work to make the road a benefit for the community...

 

And it's not like there's no nuanced arguments to be made but they always go for dumb, angry, and 'muh establishment bad.' I wonder how long it will take for them to turn on Bibb.

Edited December 2, 20213 yr by mu2010

So it looks like the ordinance to built an asphalt plant back from April proposed by Brancatelli and Kelley is back on City Council's agenda for 12/6

 

Update...

 

 

On 12/2/2021 at 11:24 AM, mu2010 said:

 

Scene is insufferable, truly. Off topic but they were at it again yesterday, blaming the Cleveland Clinic for Tr**p's COVID antics at the debate vs Biden last year (as if anyone blames the Clinic for Tr**p's behavior). They will take any chance they can get for a dumbed down hit piece against their chosen villians. They think it makes them saintly crusaders for the disadvantaged. Though the actual community members and organizations have moved on and are trying to work to make the road a benefit for the community...

 

And it's not like there's no nuanced arguments to be made but they always go for dumb, angry, and 'muh establishment bad.' I wonder how long it will take for them to turn on Bibb.

 

Despite the overall tone, the opinion piece actually makes a few decent points.  Miring those points down in that overall tone is as unprofessional as it is unnecessary, but Scene often does that to their own detriment. 

 

One good point that was implied more than it was discussed directly, is that the road only shaves about 3 minutes off the commute to the Cleveland Clinic.  That's over $90 million per minute "saved".   That really should never have been an argument for this road.  I do hope the OC does bring improvements that actually benefit the people who live in the neighborhood it travels through, but that remains to be seen. 

5 minutes ago, gildone said:

 

Despite the overall tone, the opinion piece actually makes a few decent points.  Miring those points down in that overall tone is as unprofessional as it is unnecessary, but Scene often does that to their own detriment. 

 

One good point that was implied more than it was discussed directly, is that the road only shaves about 3 minutes off the commute to the Cleveland Clinic.  That's over $90 million per minute "saved".   That really should never have been an argument for this road.  I do hope the OC does bring improvements that actually benefit the people who live in the neighborhood it travels through, but that remains to be seen. 

I have never had any strong feelings about OC either pro or con.  I can understand opinions on both sides.  However, as somebody who has sat in huge traffic jams time and time again after exiting the freeway at 55th trying to make my way to Carnegie (and usually with great frustration giving up and turning east onto Quincy), I have to question the suggested 3 minute time saving as way too low.

43 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

I have never had any strong feelings about OC either pro or con.  I can understand opinions on both sides.  However, as somebody who has sat in huge traffic jams time and time again after exiting the freeway at 55th trying to make my way to Carnegie (and usually with great frustration giving up and turning east onto Quincy), I have to question the suggested 3 minute time saving as way too low.

 

I always just took I-71/90 to Carnegie and never bothered w/ E.55th.  55th was always too much of a cluster. 

I would think OC will now be able to siphon traffic off of the other roadways in the area and reduce congestion on those roadways.

2 minutes ago, LibertyBlvd said:

I would think OC will now be able to siphon traffic off of the other roadways in the area and reduce congestion on those roadways.

I would expect that it will siphon the most traffic between E. 55th and Carnegie.  I've never found Carnegie between 71/90 and the Cleveland Clinic to be particularly congested, except perhaps if a heavy snow hits during rush hour. 

1 hour ago, Htsguy said:

I have never had any strong feelings about OC either pro or con.  I can understand opinions on both sides.  However, as somebody who has sat in huge traffic jams time and time again after exiting the freeway at 55th trying to make my way to Carnegie (and usually with great frustration giving up and turning east onto Quincy), I have to question the suggested 3 minute time saving as way too low.

 

I agree.  I'd guess more like 10.

Drove this earlier today and couldn’t help but think of the rapid by its side and imagine if we had used the same amount of $ on transit. The fact that we’re still building new roadways in a region with stagnant population is mind boggling. I desperately want to be proved wrong in the long term about this, but currently bummed.

I also would have loved to see the $300 million be used to expand transit (such as a West Shore LRT), but GCRTA lacks the funds and will to operate/maintain it. So even if ODOT told RTA "Here's $300 million to expand the Rapid out to Westlake or east toward Euclid," RTA would've told ODOT "No thanks." GUARANTEED.

 

How do I know? Because 15 years ago, as director of All Aboard Ohio's then-NEOtrans consultancy, I developed a less ambitious plan to relocate the Red Line out of its trench and the Blue/Green lines away from their elevated line along Holton to operate in the median of the Opportunity Corridor and move the Red/Green/Blue junction eastward with a connecting station or connecting track to allow Shaker-UC train services. The plan would make the trains and their stations more visible, put them closer to where the boulevard's redevelopment would be, preferably TOD. The shared right of way with the boulevard and single-level stations would be less costly for GCRTA to operate and maintain. ODOT planners were VERY interested in this idea (yes, ODOT!) because it would allow them to tap transit funds to help build the right of way and share costs with RTA and the FTA. They encouraged me to present the plan to RTA. So I met with RTA GM Joe Calabrese and he shot down the idea within minutes. He said he didn't know where RTA would come up with the local funding share to leverage the federal dollars. In the presentation, I had an answer for that but he said a local grant is more certain. Even then, he said no one would support it. I suggested that exciting plans will stimulate local interest in funding transit capital improvement projects if he promoted them. He said he couldn't get the business community interested in supporting existing RTA services (because they haven't changed and are boring, Joe!@#). So that was the end of that.

 

EDIT: after reading through the presentation again, I'm reminded that Joe Calabrese also had zero confidence that the TOD projects as I'd outlined would ever happen. He said the city is becoming less dense and there were no jobs to support development like what I'd proposed. With that kind of leadership to cause change and reverse the city's decline, you can see why RTA ridership fell by half on his watch and why public transportation became even less relevant to Greater Clevelanders in the absence of meaningful leadership.

 

Here's the presentation from 15 years ago (I almost never delete anything)....

http://freepdfhosting.com/52ac1f0675.pdf

 

It was 38 years of crap like this that eventually caused me to throw in the towel on rail/transit advocacy in Cleveland and Ohio. We live in a city where 77 percent of households have cars, a county where 85 percent of households with cars, and a state where 91 percent of households have cars. And that's good enough for the powers-that-be. No one in this city/county/state cares about the 23, 15 and 9 percent of the population. They are considered weirdos, outcasts and slackers because they don't have cars. The powers-that-be feel the existing transit system is just fine to catch those who fall through the cracks of Ohio's Officially Sanctioned Mode Of Transportation until they can finally get a job or three and get with the program of OOSMOT.

Now that this has been fully opened for a bit, has anyone who regularly travels down Chester, Carnegie, E55th, noticed less traffic on those routes?  I know there was talk when OC was being planned that it would take traffic off those streets so necessary repairs could finally be made (involving closing down lanes for extended periods of time), but I was also hoping that rerouted traffic could allow for some much needed road diets.

It’s definitely quietened traffic exiting 1-90 eastbound onto Chester in the morning. I get on at Prospect and usually run straight into the back of a line of traffic trying to exit. Been a noticeably shorter line since the OC opened. 

It looks like they've starting clearing the land for the cold storage facility north of the green/blue line and south of opportunity corridor betwen 75th and 79th.  I'll try to snap a pic on my ride home tonight.

I am exited for the future of the OC and was on it just yesterday on my way to UH. But the one thing I hate more than utility lines and chain link fence is 'barbed wire.  It sends the wrong message. I wish there could be some kind of code against, that would include existing bossiness and new construction. I have this fear it could find itself at the new police station.  I am afraid some of these developers will buy in to the perception of the area or cave in to the tenants demands.

1 minute ago, freethink said:

I am exited for the future of the OC and was on it just yesterday on my way to UH. But the one thing I hate more than utility lines and chain link fence is 'barbed wire.  It sends the wrong message. I wish there could be some kind of code against, that would include existing bossiness and new construction. I have this fear it could find itself at the new police station.  I am afraid some of these developers will buy in to the perception of the area or cave in to the tenants demands.

 

The perception is not entirely unjustified, and I daresay the preferences of the people who are going to invest in the area should be considered over the aesthetic perceptions of casual observers.    The same is true of chain link fence.   Not everywhere can or should be casually accessible.   This doesn't just apply to theft or vandalism concerns, but "attractive nuisances" as well.

On 12/29/2021 at 5:41 PM, PoshSteve said:

Now that this has been fully opened for a bit, has anyone who regularly travels down Chester, Carnegie, E55th, noticed less traffic on those routes?  I know there was talk when OC was being planned that it would take traffic off those streets so necessary repairs could finally be made (involving closing down lanes for extended periods of time), but I was also hoping that rerouted traffic could allow for some much needed road diets.

 

"Road diets" defeat the purpose of expanding options, especially in the context of allowing for necessary repairs.   

43 minutes ago, E Rocc said:

 

"Road diets" defeat the purpose of expanding options, especially in the context of allowing for necessary repairs.   

With the expanded capacity thanks to the OC, there is less traffic now on Carnegie/Chester. The now excess capacity on those roads can be reduced with road diets, provided traffic studies prove what our eyes have shown us.

On 2/11/2022 at 4:29 PM, sizzlinbeef said:

It looks like they've starting clearing the land for the cold storage facility north of the green/blue line and south of opportunity corridor betwen 75th and 79th.  I'll try to snap a pic on my ride home tonight.

 

 

They were just approved for multiple demolitions in that area. The cold storage site prep work is definitely moving faster than the other warehouse projects in the area, although there are more active uses in their way (like the Reserve Premier warehouse on East 55th at the OC and the Commerce Park 77 just east of I-77).

https://neo-trans.blog/2021/11/18/booming-more-east-side-warehouses-coming/

On 2/12/2022 at 11:39 AM, PoshSteve said:

With the expanded capacity thanks to the OC, there is less traffic now on Carnegie/Chester. The now excess capacity on those roads can be reduced with road diets, provided traffic studies prove what our eyes have shown us.

 

Spending money to reduce "excess capacity" isn't politically likely.

6 hours ago, E Rocc said:

 

Spending money to reduce "excess capacity" isn't politically likely.

 

Normally I'd agree with you on the oftentimes spinelessness exhibited by our elected officials, but not with this. We've seen road diets countless times both locally and nationally, including major thoroughfares in Cleveland successfully transformed. The money needs to be spent rebuilding Chester/Carnegie anyways. The OC gives a great opportunity to do that with less disruption to travel, and thus less political blowback. Let's not be mistaken though - the majority of motorists who would be affected are not Cleveland voters in the first place, while the area residents who stand to benefit are. 

2 minutes ago, PoshSteve said:

 

Normally I'd agree with you on the oftentimes spinelessness exhibited by our elected officials, but not with this. We've seen road diets countless times both locally and nationally, including major thoroughfares in Cleveland successfully transformed. The money needs to be spent rebuilding Chester/Carnegie anyways. The OC gives a great opportunity to do that with less disruption to travel, and thus less political blowback. Let's not be mistaken though - the majority of motorists who would be affected are not Cleveland voters in the first place, while the area residents who stand to benefit are. 

 

They may not be Cleveland voters, but would state and federal money be spent?   Yep, Chester Avenue is US Route 322.

On 12/5/2021 at 1:16 PM, KJP said:

I also would have loved to see the $300 million be used to expand transit (such as a West Shore LRT), but GCRTA lacks the funds and will to operate/maintain it. So even if ODOT told RTA "Here's $300 million to expand the Rapid out to Westlake or east toward Euclid," RTA would've told ODOT "No thanks." GUARANTEED.

 

How do I know? Because 15 years ago, as director of All Aboard Ohio's then-NEOtrans consultancy, I developed a less ambitious plan to relocate the Red Line out of its trench and the Blue/Green lines away from their elevated line along Holton to operate in the median of the Opportunity Corridor and move the Red/Green/Blue junction eastward with a connecting station or connecting track to allow Shaker-UC train services. The plan would make the trains and their stations more visible, put them closer to where the boulevard's redevelopment would be, preferably TOD. The shared right of way with the boulevard and single-level stations would be less costly for GCRTA to operate and maintain. ODOT planners were VERY interested in this idea (yes, ODOT!) because it would allow them to tap transit funds to help build the right of way and share costs with RTA and the FTA. They encouraged me to present the plan to RTA. So I met with RTA GM Joe Calabrese and he shot down the idea within minutes. He said he didn't know where RTA would come up with the local funding share to leverage the federal dollars. In the presentation, I had an answer for that but he said a local grant is more certain. Even then, he said no one would support it. I suggested that exciting plans will stimulate local interest in funding transit capital improvement projects if he promoted them. He said he couldn't get the business community interested in supporting existing RTA services (because they haven't changed and are boring, Joe!@#). So that was the end of that.

 

EDIT: after reading through the presentation again, I'm reminded that Joe Calabrese also had zero confidence that the TOD projects as I'd outlined would ever happen. He said the city is becoming less dense and there were no jobs to support development like what I'd proposed. With that kind of leadership to cause change and reverse the city's decline, you can see why RTA ridership fell by half on his watch and why public transportation became even less relevant to Greater Clevelanders in the absence of meaningful leadership.

 

Here's the presentation from 15 years ago (I almost never delete anything)....

http://freepdfhosting.com/52ac1f0675.pdf

 

It was 38 years of crap like this that eventually caused me to throw in the towel on rail/transit advocacy in Cleveland and Ohio. We live in a city where 77 percent of households have cars, a county where 85 percent of households with cars, and a state where 91 percent of households have cars. And that's good enough for the powers-that-be. No one in this city/county/state cares about the 23, 15 and 9 percent of the population. They are considered weirdos, outcasts and slackers because they don't have cars. The powers-that-be feel the existing transit system is just fine to catch those who fall through the cracks of Ohio's Officially Sanctioned Mode Of Transportation until they can finally get a job or three and get with the program of OOSMOT.

 

What percent of those people intend to eventually have  cars, though?    Or don’t have one because of age or infirmity, but are helped out by friends or family that do have them?  They almost certainly outnumber the people who wish they didn't need a car.

 

The ship’s long since sailed, at least in this area.    Intentionally making GCRTA a “one size fits all” system that actively refused to make any concessions to people with other options may not have built the ship, but it certainly broke the proverbial bottle on its stern.

7 hours ago, E Rocc said:

 

Spending money to reduce "excess capacity" isn't politically likely.

Reducing excess capacity also decreases maintenance costs.  Every government project should include an analysis of the next 20 years of maintenance costs.  But ribbon cutting is far more fun than maintenance, so yes, politically not likely to happen.   If only there were politicians who understood fiscal responsibility.

On 2/13/2022 at 12:29 PM, KJP said:

They were just approved for multiple demolitions in that area. The cold storage site prep work is definitely moving faster than the other warehouse projects in the area, although there are more active uses in their way (like the Reserve Premier warehouse on East 55th at the OC and the Commerce Park 77 just east of I-77).

 

So after multiple attempts this is the best my circa-2015 phone could do while in motion.  This is looking over 75th.

 

I have been on the OC a couple of dozen times by now and someone needs to start proposing a starbucks/dunkin/sheetz because they will be packed. 

1 hour ago, freethink said:

I have been on the OC a couple of dozen times by now and someone needs to start proposing a starbucks/dunkin/sheetz because they will be packed. 

 

I'd actually take the road if there were a Tim Hortons lol but yeah totally, definitely ripe for a Sheets/GetGo/etc. gas station of some sort.

I took a ride on the OC for the first time today.  It looks good.  There sure is a lot of developable property on both sides.  Hopefully it won't be just gas stations and dollar stores.    

The amount of construction that's going to be occurring along that road by the end of this year should be pretty incredible.

ODOT video on the OC, posted June 15, 2022:

 

Letter to the Editor about the sad state of the highway: https://www.cleveland.com/letters/2022/07/opportunity-corridor-is-turning-into-an-abominable-corridor-of-trash-and-dying-trees.html

 

This nails it: 

 

True to form, this $257 million, three-mile “boulevard” project funded by the public is on schedule to fulfill the “build it and abandon it” fate of so many “beautifying” projects that have no plan and no funding for upkeep. The public deserves better.

I took OC to The Feast today. There are several dead pines on the south side and a few dead trees in the median, but I didn't see any trash.