As far as traffic goes, I don't understand the repeated claim by people that traffic is bad in this area.  The time I have had to drive between University Circle and downtown at rush hour, I have never had a problem.  And that includes all the times recently where lanes have been severely restricted on either Carnegie, Cedar, or Chester.  There are four major parallel roads within a half mile of each other already connecting these two areas.  Traffic is not a problem.  The OC probably will only shave a minute or two off the trip from the west side and nothing at all from downtown.

 

 

Oh I have. There have been times, especially during the construction on Chester and Carnegie, that it took me an hour to get from UC to downtown.

Considering I work in UC and drive for Uber, I take plenty of people home (or to downtown) from UC. It can take an hour to go from Case to downtown if there is a major event, but it's usually a 30 to 40 minute ordeal. If they are going to say, Lakewood, add in an extra 30 minutes and the hassle of getting either on Interstate 90 towards the river or Interstate 90 towards SR 2.

 

Those parallel routes all essentially become 45-50 MPH speedways because, and let's face it, people want to get to point A to point B as quickly as possible. The roads are straight, generally in good condition, but come congested with traffic lights. Try turning left onto E55 from any of those major parallels and it becomes a nightmare.

As for the route by E55 - that's Interstate 490 terminating into future OH 10. It will transition from a 60 MPH freeway into a 35 MPH urban boulevard. Considering the number of rear-end crashes at the current terminus at E55 (because of the abrupt transition), it is safer to bridge over E55 and connect SR 10 to E55 via an at-grade ramp. It's not an interchange.

 

I'm not convinced.

 

I would argue that it's the design of the roadway between I-77 and E55 that is more at fault for those accidents at E55 than it is the transition from freeway speeds to street speed.  Particularly that downhill portion.  You don't see the same rear-enders at an uphill exit ramp. 

 

I would bring the road bed down so that it's level with E55 long before you get there, and back up the merge point for the cars coming from I-77 and the cars coming from I-490 -- I would make the cars from I-490 turn in toward the I-77 merge point to force them to slow down as well, rather than allowing them to continue in a straight line to the intersection as they can now.  Reducing the number and width of the lanes and slowing the speed limit further back from E55th also would reduce vehicle speeds before E55.  I propose that that would be cheaper (a better use of our tax dollars) than the bridge and access ramps -- which will encourage increased speed past E55 because it will look and feel like a highway. 

This has the potential to develop, connects UC not only with the suburbs but the airport, and allows the other routes between UC and downtown to be worked on without greatly inhibiting flow between the two.

 

UC is already connected very well to the airport and downtown by public transit (one seat fast train rides to both).

 

 

But not to the Clinic....

As for the route by E55 - that's Interstate 490 terminating into future OH 10. It will transition from a 60 MPH freeway into a 35 MPH urban boulevard. Considering the number of rear-end crashes at the current terminus at E55 (because of the abrupt transition), it is safer to bridge over E55 and connect SR 10 to E55 via an at-grade ramp. It's not an interchange.

 

I'm not convinced.

 

I would argue that it's the design of the roadway between I-77 and E55 that is more at fault for those accidents at E55 than it is the transition from freeway speeds to street speed.  Particularly that downhill portion.  You don't see the same rear-enders at an uphill exit ramp. 

 

I would bring the road bed down so that it's level with E55 long before you get there, and back up the merge point for the cars coming from I-77 and the cars coming from I-490 -- I would make the cars from I-490 turn in toward the I-77 merge point to force them to slow down as well, rather than allowing them to continue in a straight line to the intersection as they can now.  Reducing the number and width of the lanes and slowing the speed limit further back from E55th also would reduce vehicle speeds before E55.  I propose that that would be cheaper (a better use of our tax dollars) than the bridge and access ramps -- which will encourage increased speed past E55 because it will look and feel like a highway. 

 

The problem with that is that west of E55, it's Interstate 490 and is outside the scope of this project. East of E55, it is SR 10, a state route.

 

The only solution that would appeal to you in this sense is if there are high speed ramps from I-77 to Interstate 490 west while redesigning the remaining ramps to terminate at at-grade intersections with SR 10 that would continue east.

 

That interchange, interestingly enough, was completed in 1964 but not opened until circa 1990.

Except this time, unlike all the previous times here and around the world, more lane-miles will result in less traffic congestion, less auto dependency, more urban vibrancy, less pollution, less health effects (obesity, diabetes, etc)...

But not to the Clinic....

 

It's about 0.6 miles from the Crile Building to the UC station.  The Clinic could easily run a shuttle from their campus to that station if people don't want to walk it.

Attached are ODOT records as PDFs

 

Four PDFS:

 

1.) 2015-08-06 Current Implementation Plan Graphics (3 sections) // [see Attached or See Link]

 

Map of road including planned construction dates.

https://www.pdf-archive.com/2016/11/28/2015-08-06-current-implementation-plan-graphics-3-sections/

 

2.) CUYAHOGA Opportunity Corridor Status Update // [see Attached or See Link]

 

Amount paid by ODOT to property owners take parcels in order to construct road, names of property owners, and status of property, whether ODOT has finished purchasing necessary property.

https://www.pdf-archive.com/2016/11/28/cuyahoga-opportunity-corridor-status-update/

 

 

3.) 2013-07-09-2012-09-10-impacted-parcels-map-and-table // [see Link]

 

Maps of impacted buildings in right-of-way of proposed road construction... Maps start page 8

https://www.pdf-archive.com/2016/11/28/2013-07-09-2012-09-10-impacted-parcels-map-and-table/

 

 

4.) rw-plans-20150317-final // [see Link]

 

Engineering Plans

https://www.pdf-archive.com/2016/11/28/rw-plans-20150317-final/

As far as traffic goes, I don't understand the repeated claim by people that traffic is bad in this area.  The time I have had to drive between University Circle and downtown at rush hour, I have never had a problem.  And that includes all the times recently where lanes have been severely restricted on either Carnegie, Cedar, or Chester.  There are four major parallel roads within a half mile of each other already connecting these two areas.  Traffic is not a problem.  The OC probably will only shave a minute or two off the trip from the west side and nothing at all from downtown.

 

 

Oh I have. There have been times, especially during the construction on Chester and Carnegie, that it took me an hour to get from UC to downtown.

 

No way.  Maybe once during a snow storm.  But not many times.  I make this drive more than I'd like to have to, and I have NEVER had it take more than 20 minutes except in extremely rare circumstances.  Usually more like 10-15.  And if you're moving with the timed lights (westbound in the morning/eastbound in the afternoon), it's less than 10 minutes.

Considering I work in UC and drive for Uber, I take plenty of people home (or to downtown) from UC. It can take an hour to go from Case to downtown if there is a major event, but it's usually a 30 to 40 minute ordeal. If they are going to say, Lakewood, add in an extra 30 minutes and the hassle of getting either on Interstate 90 towards the river or Interstate 90 towards SR 2.

 

Those parallel routes all essentially become 45-50 MPH speedways because, and let's face it, people want to get to point A to point B as quickly as possible. The roads are straight, generally in good condition, but come congested with traffic lights. Try turning left onto E55 from any of those major parallels and it becomes a nightmare.

 

It may take 30 minutes to get to Public Square from UC (I still don't buy that unless there's something unusual going on), but that's not what the OC would replace.  It takes 15 minutes tops normally (even at rush hour) to get from Case to the Innerbelt.

 

I have never had a problem turning left off Carnegie onto E. 55th St. to get to I-490.

No way.  Maybe once during a snow storm.  But not many times.  I make this drive more than I'd like to have to, and I have NEVER had it take more than 20 minutes except in extremely rare circumstances.  Usually more like 10-15.  And if you're moving with the timed lights (westbound in the morning/eastbound in the afternoon), it's less than 10 minutes.

 

That's funny. I don't remember you being in the car with me. It was a fall evening about two years ago. Every street was gridlocked near the Inner Belt.

That's funny. I don't remember you being in the car with me. It was a fall evening about two years ago. Every street was gridlocked near the Inner Belt.

 

There have been times, especially during the construction on Chester and Carnegie, that it took me an hour to get from UC to downtown.

 

So it would have been more accurate for you to say "One time two years ago,...", but then it wouldn't have backed up the point you were trying to make.

I've had problems on 55th, coming and going from 490.  Close one lane of 55th and things can get ugly.  There are plenty of E-W options from downtown but thru streets running N-S are very limited. 

I had a client located off of 55th a couple of blocks from the freeway whom I frequented many times the past three years.  Even well before rush hour traffic was almost always a nightmare on 55th.  Hard to make both left and right turns as idiots always blocking intersections.

 

I would also often take 490 from the west side and get off at 55th to head back to Cleveland Hts.  During rush hour, it always took forever to maneuver down 55th to Carnegie.  Often I would just turn down Quincy to speed things up, but even that took forever to reach.

 

In the past 4-5 years I noticed the traffic heading west on Carnegie from the Clinic backing up at an alarming rate compare to years past during early rush hour.  It use to be that the traffic just backed up going east from downtown but now it is pretty bad in both directions and this is year round.

That's funny. I don't remember you being in the car with me. It was a fall evening about two years ago. Every street was gridlocked near the Inner Belt.

 

There have been times, especially during the construction on Chester and Carnegie, that it took me an hour to get from UC to downtown.

 

So it would have been more accurate for you to say "One time two years ago,...", but then it wouldn't have backed up the point you were trying to make.

 

Classy

I've had problems on 55th, coming and going from 490.  Close one lane of 55th and things can get ugly.  There are plenty of E-W options from downtown but thru streets running N-S are very limited. 

 

I would agree with this.  This is true all the way from Richmond Rd. to downtown.  Green Rd., Warrensville Center, Lee Rd., and E. 55th St. can all, be a mess at rush hour.  But the Opportunity Corridor does little if any to solve this problem.

 

Also, Cedar/Euclid Hts./Mayfield/Fairmount is a mess, as well as North Park Blvd.  Again, these problems will not get better because of the Opportunity Corridor.  To me, it feels like this road is a solution in search of a problem.

That's funny. I don't remember you being in the car with me. It was a fall evening about two years ago. Every street was gridlocked near the Inner Belt.

 

There have been times, especially during the construction on Chester and Carnegie, that it took me an hour to get from UC to downtown.

 

So it would have been more accurate for you to say "One time two years ago,...", but then it wouldn't have backed up the point you were trying to make.

 

Classy

 

What is with the personal attack?  I was simply pointing out that you used hyperbole to prove a point which I don't find to be true.

Groovy

I've had problems on 55th, coming and going from 490.  Close one lane of 55th and things can get ugly.  There are plenty of E-W options from downtown but thru streets running N-S are very limited. 

 

I would agree with this.  This is true all the way from Richmond Rd. to downtown.  Green Rd., Warrensville Center, Lee Rd., and E. 55th St. can all, be a mess at rush hour.  But the Opportunity Corridor does little if any to solve this problem.

 

Also, Cedar/Euclid Hts./Mayfield/Fairmount is a mess, as well as North Park Blvd.  Again, these problems will not get better because of the Opportunity Corridor.  To me, it feels like this road is a solution in search of a problem.

 

"The problem" is all those cars using 55th because it's part of the current zigzag path between the UC area and the west side.  This road won't solve any bottlenecks east of UC, but it will greatly assist people traveling between the heights and the west side, which will benefit the Coventry and Cedar-Lee business districts as well as their western counterparts.

Cleveland, state, JobsOhio reach deal that clears way for Opportunity Corridor

February 24, 2017

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Construction is cleared to resume on the Opportunity Corridor project as a result of an agreement that Mayor Frank Jackson said his administration negotiated to ensure that the $331 million "boulevard" connecting downtown with the University Circle neighborhood benefits the city and its residents.

 

Jackson told cleveland.com Friday that the Ohio Department of Transportation and JobsOhio, the state's privatized non-profit development corporation, have now agreed to his demands that city residents get a fair share of the work and that the state pay for installation of utilities and for some cleanup of contaminated land along the route.

 

MORE:

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/02/cleveland_state_jobsohio_reach.html

At least one of these demos is for the Opportunity Corridor.......

 

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2017/pdf/East_Agenda_4-11-17.pdf

I looked at the addresses and the "Impacted Properties" map above.  None of these is actually for the Opportunity Corridor, though a couple are near it.

Wonder what a "nature gateway" is?

 

Demolition of former church property. Demolition will allow a neighborhood

gateway to nature, near the southeast intersection of Kinsman Road and the

Opportunity Corridor.

Grassing over the lot and planting trees. It's this building: https://goo.gl/maps/Eb8GQEbbZ5t

 

There is nothing of value over in that area.

^Truth be told.  The area has been completely wiped out

I've probably been UO's biggest OC opponent ... but there is truly an "opportunity" to create a new neighborhood between Kinsman and Woodland in/around E. 75 & 79th streets on the skeleton of a neighborhood long gone-- forgotten.  If done right, new residents can/should be oriented to the 2 Rapid stations at E. 79th, for the Red Line and the Blue & Green Lines-- ironically because of this, this area is one of the best served by transit in the entire region -- the entire State, for that matter.  Let's hold these OC proponent's feet to the fire.  They claimed they were going to develop TOD along this roadway.  Now is the time in the planning process to make sure they follow through; to make sure this is more than just an urban commuter highway for West Sider's working at the Clinic and in University Circle... Planners will have nearly an empty canvas upon which to paint. 

 

Fix up these crumbling streets that in some cases are so weed choked the City has blocked them off to traffic (like E. 92nd under the Blue/Green Rapid viaduct near Holton Rd.    Miceli's Dairy Products Co., and Orlando Bakery have not only decided to make this area their corporate home, they have recently been expanding their facilities there.  Now its time to bring back residents and literally remake this long forgotten area of the City.  Too bad it took a highway to get to this point, but it is what it is... Let's hold these OC boosters with their lofty neighborhood-saving talk accountable.

I think you're being optimistic even with suggesting there is opportunity for a new neighborhood; heck, I'd say there's about an equally good chance of Baghdad or Tripoli seeing true investment and population growth/stability in the same timeframe.

 

Look at Carnegie and Chester, which are somewhat comparable to this corridor.  Other than a few outliers here and there, there isn't s-hit in between University Circle and downtown on those streets, and that's with the presence of the Cleveland Clinic and thousands of homes.

 

This whole project is a waste of brain matter. $330 million dollars in the furnace.

 

 

Look at Carnegie and Chester, which are somewhat comparable to this corridor.  Other than a few outliers here and there, there isn't s-hit in between University Circle and downtown on those streets, and that's with the presence of the Cleveland Clinic and thousands of homes.

 

I think that Carnegie and Chester have changed quite dramatically over the past 20 years and are just about at that critical mass that produces self-sustaining development. No question the OC will be a bigger challenge with less to work with, but a lot of light manufacturing could find a home there. (I'm an eternal optimist; I know it gets annoying.)

Here are some views of the work occurring at E105 and Quincy Ave. as of this past weekend. The entire intersection has been brought down to the road base and we can see that some amount of grading work has been done for the new-construction section of the boulevard.

 

Looking South at the Intersection of Quincy Ave and E105 on Saturday, June 10, 2017.

 

Looking W. on Quincy Ave at same intersection.

 

Due West view on Quincy Ave.

^ great pics the last couple of days!  I still can't believe that Opportunity Blvd is still progressing.....such a waste of $$$

^ great pics the last couple of days!  I still can't believe that Opportunity Blvd is still progressing.....such a waste of $$$

 

Didn't you see that second-to-last picture? Signs are already going up, development is right around the corner!

^ great pics the last couple of days!  I still can't believe that Opportunity Blvd is still progressing.....such a waste of $$$

 

I'm with you, brother.  It's amazing how little criticism this huge taxpayer project gets, yet to hear the PD and many like-minded folks, RTA's Waterfront rail line (at just 1/5 the cost of the OC) is the biggest boondoggle to Mankind.  Just shows how misguided our transportation mindset is.

Well let's be honest this is a hugely autocwntric region because the price to drive is just not as high as in other regions. And the rail network not as extensive. Plus the waterfront line has not been used near as much as it could over the last 21 years.

 

This road will probably get used a lot more than the waterfront line and if the brownfields get cleaned and ready for new development, that will create the opportunity for new buildings and new jobs in this area.

At least this road serves a widely recognized need and will likely get a lot of use.  The WFL does very little for very few people.  We need to emphasize rail over driving as much as possible but we also need to separate good ideas from bad ones regardless of modality.  We'd all have been thrilled if RTA had proposed a rail extension to Solon as an alternative to this investment.  But they didn't, and we can't blame that on the Opportunity Corridor.

Yeah all you can do at this point is wish it the best. As for rail, at least the road travels by, and putting bike and pedestrian infrastructure and hopefully development near, not one but several rapid stations... in probably the most dis-invested area that the system travels through. We cannot say that for any other Cleveland freeway projects historically.

At least this road serves a widely recognized need and will likely get a lot of use.  The WFL does very little for very few people.  We need to emphasize rail over driving as much as possible but we also need to separate good ideas from bad ones regardless of modality.  We'd all have been thrilled if RTA had proposed a rail extension to Solon as an alternative to this investment.  But they didn't, and we can't blame that on the Opportunity Corridor.

 

We see with FEB Phases I and II, development is slowly rising along the Waterfront Line and, in a decade or so when we have the NC Transportation Center + Greyhound, FEB Phase III, the Trammell Crow development in/around Browns' Stadium and the Rock Hall and maybe even the outlet mall at MUNY lot, many, many butts will be in WFL seats and the City will be patting itself on the back for the foresight and the genius of building the WFL some 25-30 years prior...

 

What you guys (along with most City officials) continue to fail to understand (and what seasoned, nationally recognized urban planners like Hunter Morrison clearly get), is that TOD development is supposed to be coordinated with rail transit in a way to make both successful.  You just don't build a rail line, not develop the adjacent RE, then people don't ride and you deem rail a failure and a waste (exactly what's happened with WFL).  That's not how it's done in practically any successful transit city you can name, the most striking being DC... ... and even here Cleveland.  The Van Sweringens built their rapid transit into farmland.  Had they not coordinated Shaker Heights and Shaker Square development, the Shaker Rapid would be a vague footnote in local history -- which is what happened in places like Milwaukee which built rapid transit during the Vans era (and how's that Milwaukee Rapid doing today?  LOL).

 

The Opportunity Corridor is more favorable to Cleveland liking: isn't designed to spur development, just provide a faster commute to/from already existing development - namely Cleveland Clinic, in this case; along this highly expensive roadway (both to build and then maintain) through a rundown area of town.  But just because the OC will probably be jammed with West Side-to-CC commuters, don't compare it to the WFL and say it's a success, because the 2 modes are entirely different as, I explained above, rail demands follow through with TOD development... something Cleveland is slowly beginning to understand, esp in Uptown and Little Italy.

Are people living in FEB actually taking the rapid though? RTA needs to ramp up their marketing game and coordinate it with the property owners down there. People at the FEB income level seem to basically pretend it doesn't exist.

What you guys (along with most City officials) continue to fail to understand (and what seasoned, nationally recognized urban planners like Hunter Morrison clearly get), is that TOD development is supposed to be coordinated with rail transit in a way to make both successful. 

 

Your opinion is pretty in line with the general opinion on UO, yet you wonder why you don't win many converts on here. :roll:  I know I like the OC a little more with each of your posts.

Are people living in FEB actually taking the rapid though? RTA needs to ramp up their marketing game and coordinate it with the property owners down there. People at the FEB income level seem to basically pretend it doesn't exist.

 

That's countywide, and has its roots in the early days of the merger.  I'm not sure what can be done about it at this point, short of catering to middle and upper SES riders in a way that some others might see as exclusionary.  That might not even work.

The original purpose of the road was to be a fast cut-through for cars from the highway system to University Circle, hence its original name UCAB -- University Circle Access Boulevard. But to sell it to Cleveland city officials, it had to be re-cast. Not only did it get a new name, but it also got a redesigned with a softer edge including bike paths, neighborhood supportive land use/development plans, neighborhood/pollution clean-up funds, state-funded job training and community improvements, and even the expansion of the rapid transit station at Quincy-East 105th funded 80 percent by ODOT money. The development plans include emerging plans for transit-supportive uses around the Campus, East 79th and Quincy-East 105th.

 

Now some may call this putting lipstick on a pig, and that's probably the case with some of this stuff. But let's be honest with ourselves -- how much of this would have actually happened (ever, or at least in our lifetimes) if not for this road project? This is an area that hasn't seen any significant infrastructure investment since the early 1950s when the Red Line was built, and it was built when all the aging industries in this corridor were about to crest their collective peaks and slide down the same hill that the entire Rust Belt slid. So not only is this an opportunity to restore an employment base gone now for 40+ years, it's also a chance to restore the Red Line to its jobs-access purpose it briefly enjoyed in this area early on its life. And it can do it if we pour on the lipstick with sufficient density in the walk-shed of the Red Line stations.

^Well said. We should be in full on lemonade mode at this point. What I'm most looking for now are the rezonings that will ensure the newly accessible development opportunities aren't frittered away with extremely low density, low-employment uses.

yes, which begs the question, is there any info about rezonings around it yet? its also an opportunity to do something urban-focused with what gets built there. the last thing anyone needs are a bunch of typical highway fast food joints, gas stations and the like to spring up.

Last I heard they're looking at light industry on the western portion moving to medical/ tech related close to E. 105.

thanks thats great to hear. yeah i figured the eastern end closest to the clinic would probably skew appropriate development like that, but the rest is the wild west without some very thoughtful zoning.

 

edit:  :whip: autocorrect lol

I think it's cute that people talk about the Opportunity Corridor doing anything for the neighborhood.  Phase 2 is to finish bulldozing the neighborhood and build suburban office parks and distribution warehouses.  This never has been and never will be about the people in these neighborhoods. 

TBH..there isn't much of a neighborhood there.  It's mostly urban prairie and brownfields.

^^It's not purely suburban drivers vs. neighborhood residents here. There are a lot of others with a stake in this project getting done right. Even if most of us would have chosen to spend the money differently and worry about the unintended consequences, there could be real economic development benefits to the city overall (income taxes) and to transit-dependent workers in the whole region.

yeah its kind of a tabla rasa, so lets hope its laid out correctly out of the gate and its zoned for better than mcdonalds, drug stores and suburban style anything. i'm sure we will find some interesting and more detailed info about zoning changes eventually. here is something about these concerns from awhile back:

 

 

 

Planners seek to avoid lining Opportunity Corridor with payday lenders, other undesirable uses

 

By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

Follow on Twitter

on May 27, 2015 at 7:52 AM, updated May 27, 2015 at 1:20 PM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Planners are gearing up to use a new kind of zoning, a new design review district and other tools and techniques to realize the economic and aesthetic potential of the $331 million Opportunity Corridor boulevard scheduled for completion in 2019.

 

The goal is to avoid lowest common denominator development that might otherwise occur along the three-mile, 35 mph roadway, designed to connect the stub end of I-490 at East 55th Street to University Circle.

 

"Pardon me, but we don't want a street full of payday lenders and Popeye drive-throughs and gas stations," said Marie Kittredge, executive director of the Opportunity Corridor Partnership, the project's 35-member steering committee.

 

 

more:

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/05/no_payday_lenders_wanted_by_pl.html

A few example images of what the powers that be envision the Opportunity Corridor could be.  I'm not holding my breath.  It looks about as pleasant as walking along Mayfield Road.

The original purpose of the road was to be a fast cut-through for cars from the highway system to University Circle, hence its original name UCAB -- University Circle Access Boulevard. But to sell it to Cleveland city officials, it had to be re-cast. Not only did it get a new name, but it also got a redesigned with a softer edge including bike paths, neighborhood supportive land use/development plans, neighborhood/pollution clean-up funds, state-funded job training and community improvements, and even the expansion of the rapid transit station at Quincy-East 105th funded 80 percent by ODOT money. The development plans include emerging plans for transit-supportive uses around the Campus, East 79th and Quincy-East 105th.

 

Now some may call this putting lipstick on a pig, and that's probably the case with some of this stuff. But let's be honest with ourselves -- how much of this would have actually happened (ever, or at least in our lifetimes) if not for this road project? This is an area that hasn't seen any significant infrastructure investment since the early 1950s when the Red Line was built, and it was built when all the aging industries in this corridor were about to crest their collective peaks and slide down the same hill that the entire Rust Belt slid. So not only is this an opportunity to restore an employment base gone now for 40+ years, it's also a chance to restore the Red Line to its jobs-access purpose it briefly enjoyed in this area early on its life. And it can do it if we pour on the lipstick with sufficient density in the walk-shed of the Red Line stations.

 

You raise excellent points, Ken.

 

Quite obviously I don't like this project, but it's reality now and the time for complaining is over.  It's too bad it took a highway-like roadway to stimulate a little development, but it is what it is.  Most importantly now is to focus on the movers & shakers of the OC; hold their feet to the fire and truly generate some kind of development, especially TOD.