February 19, 20187 yr I just hope they don't call it opportunity blvd or something stupid like that. Akron has opportunity parkway and I always thought it was lame and desperate sounding. If you have to name your roads "opportunity," your city probably doesn't have much of it. University Blvd could be nice... Garrett Morgan Parkway. Give some recognition to a black man from Cleveland who made his mark in STEM, not law, government, or entertainment.
February 19, 20187 yr The city and state should sell naming rights to recoup some of the cost and help pay for actual development improvements. "The Lerner Family Parkway at Cleveland Clinic Corridor"
February 19, 20187 yr "MedPark CLE Boulevard [/member] The Triangle". “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
February 19, 20187 yr How about "Instead of Investing in Transit $300M Spent So Suburbanites Don't Have To Drive Down E. 55th and Carnegie Avenue Boulevard?"
February 19, 20187 yr My biggest objection to this project is the current design and interaction between the end of I-490 and E. 55 -- it seems like a huge added expense there. Is that final?
February 19, 20187 yr That's the part of the project I've always been opposed to. What's the supposed benefit to adding that jughandle? To eliminate left turns from 490 to E 55th northbound? There doesn't seem to be any real benefit to extending the expressway another couple hundred feet. “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
February 19, 20187 yr That's the part of the project I've always been opposed to. What's the supposed benefit to adding that jughandle? To eliminate left turns from 490 to E 55th northbound? There doesn't seem to be any real benefit to extending the expressway another couple hundred feet. I thought they redesigned that?
February 19, 20187 yr Can Opportunity Corridor be a boon, not a boondoggle? Free panel discussion Wednesday at CWRU Local leaders who will help shape the future of the land around the new boulevard will discuss the project Wednesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in a free public forum in the ballroom at the Tinkham Veale University Center, Case Western Reserve University, 11038 Bellflower Rd. Panelists will include: Freddy Collier, director of Cleveland's City Planning Commission; Chris Alvarado, executive director of Slavic Village Development; Ward 6 Councilman Blaine Griffin; Chris Ronayne, President of University Circle Inc.; and Denise VanLeer, executive director, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corp. http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2018/02/will_opportunity_corridor_be_a.html
February 19, 20187 yr That's the part of the project I've always been opposed to. What's the supposed benefit to adding that jughandle? To eliminate left turns from 490 to E 55th northbound? There doesn't seem to be any real benefit to extending the expressway another couple hundred feet. I thought they redesigned that? I'm honestly not sure. I haven't followed the more recent developments on this project. ODOT does still have renderings of the jughandle on their website. “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
February 28, 20187 yr Redirected from the lakefront thread.... One reason the OC is so important is it will allow other routes to the Clinic and Circle to undergo major reconstruction, instead of simply patching, without creating a mess. There's three main roads between downtown and UC. And I submit that Chester Avenue (extended east of East 55th in the late 1940s) is already the Opportunity Corridor. Its roadway design and speed is the same. It's function is the same. The only reason why ODOT went along with the OC is because it fit into its plans for the Inner Belt rebuild, which doesn't meet modern highway design standards and the all-important (to highway engineers) Level Of Service rating in terms of traffic flow. Because most of UC's traffic to/from the Interstate highway system is either via Carnegie or Chester and causes the Inner Belt's LOS to fall to an "F" rating from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. each day, they needed a reliever road to improve that LOS to make the FHWA happy and win more federal dollars. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 28, 20187 yr Chester's function is not remotely the same. It connects UC with downtown, while the idea here is to connect UC with 490. There's nothing morally wrong with that, and there's no moral value in forcing people out of route. Herding cars through a grid for a purely diagonal trip does not cause neighborhoods to blossom.
March 1, 20187 yr When Opportunity Corridor opens, Chester's huge back-up of westbound cars entering the Inner Belt during rush hour will empty. Watch. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 1, 20187 yr ^^Yeah, sorry, but if you actually drive that stretch see how much traffic goes past 90 in either direction vs getting on 90. Not even close. Chester connects Downtown and University Circle...to I-90.
March 1, 20187 yr When Opportunity Corridor opens, Chester's huge back-up of westbound cars entering the Inner Belt during rush hour will empty. Watch. Yes, probably so. Lots of people avoid the trip down 55th and cause backups near downtown while trying to get elsewhere. This project solves that. Plus, it connects UC with I-77. That's another win.
March 1, 20187 yr I think the biggest issue is how this project is framed. The city pushes this as an opportunity for the forgotten triangle area, while everyone really knows the funding for this comes from reducing commute time to University Circle. I really think this project does both. Just look at the innovation square project linked above. This will allow for continued expansion from UC, and help breathe some life in this area. The fact that E79th street has two RTA stations and there's not that much there is amazing. Chester is great for getting to downtown from UC. But getting to the outer eastern suburbs from University Circle is terrible. If I drive out to Solon, I have to snake through the side streets of Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, then Beachwood before I can finally pick up the freeway. The opportunity corridor, while still an interesting route, would cut down that time down probably by 10 minutes, and relieve congestion driving through the inner suburbs. Then you could even connect the corridor with Shaker Boulevard, where Shaker just kind of ends at Buckeye Rd. Long time lurker, but that's my 2 cents.
March 1, 20187 yr ^yes, the "opportunity" they are talking about is a chance to leverage routine highway funds to improve a long-neglected area while still serving the car transportation goals. It just has to be done right, ie, not in the manner that the highway projects of the 1950s and 1960s were done, totally ignoring everything the highway travels through. That obviously isn't what was done. They've planned it all relatively decently, now it's just a matter of the execution. For me the fact that the road travels by five RTA stations is reason enough to get excited. They'd just better have great bike path/ pedestrian connections to those stations. Now if UC institutions build offices/facilities along the opportunity corridor, they are connected to the rapid better than the existing UC is, and making the east side rapid lines all of a sudden very well placed.
March 1, 20187 yr I agree. My hope is that this road will make those stations more valuable. Currently, if something were to be built near them, those things would be very accessible by transit, but not very accessible by roadway. When the Opportunity Corridor is completed, they will be very accessible by both modes, which will hopefully be the catalyst needed to spur development.
March 1, 20187 yr ^yes, unfortunately we don't have enough existing transit commuters for a company to want to build in an area solely on the basis of transit connectivity. Creating a developable area with great road and great transit connectivity is probably the best move they can make... as long as the transit isn't totally ignored.
March 1, 20187 yr I think the biggest issue is how this project is framed. The city pushes this as an opportunity for the forgotten triangle area, while everyone really knows the funding for this comes from reducing commute time to University Circle. I really think this project does both. Just look at the innovation square project linked above. This will allow for continued expansion from UC, and help breathe some life in this area. The fact that E79th street has two RTA stations and there's not that much there is amazing. Chester is great for getting to downtown from UC. But getting to the outer eastern suburbs from University Circle is terrible. If I drive out to Solon, I have to snake through the side streets of Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, then Beachwood before I can finally pick up the freeway. The opportunity corridor, while still an interesting route, would cut down that time down probably by 10 minutes, and relieve congestion driving through the inner suburbs. Then you could even connect the corridor with Shaker Boulevard, where Shaker just kind of ends at Buckeye Rd. Long time lurker, but that's my 2 cents. Exactly. Even when I lived in Maple Heights and was going to Case there wasn't really a direct route. Lee looks like one on a map, but really wasn't. Too many poorly timed lights, too much illegal parking and other off the wall driving habits. One time, the only reason I didn't get into a serious accident when a bus cut me off due to a double parker was because I had the (360hp) Firebird.
May 30, 20187 yr Toured the Opportunity Corridor construction today to see some OC Boulevard construction progress, including the expanded East 105th/Quincy Red Line station. The expanded East 105th north of Quincy is pretty much done. They're now working on the section between Quincy and Woodland. The portion from Woodland to East 55th/I-490 will be last. Looking south on East 105th from Carnegie. You can see the elevator tower for the expanded Red Line station at Quincy in the distance. Yes, I know it's a crappy image (zoom shot on a hot day)... Looking south from Quincy... One of, if not the primary contractor on this job is Cleveland-based Great Lakes Construction who does a lot of highway contracts statewide and beyond... The existing RTA station headhouse and the additional headhouse/elevator tower under construction on the northeast side of the new East 105th Street bridge... A little closer view of the existing headhouse, built in 2005 for a mere $1.3 million. This station has a very short platform that can process passengers from only car on a train at a time. The expanded station, costing $4 million ($3.2 million coming from ODOT), will not only lengthen the platform but improve transit access to the planned New Economy Village, which will essentially expand University Circle's employment centers south along East 105th toward this station... Looking north on East 105th at the new bridge over the RTA-NS-CSX tracks and the elevator tower for the expanded Red Line station/headhouse... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 31, 20187 yr Does anyone still think this was a poor idea? Time to discuss naming it after Garrett Morgan yet?
May 31, 20187 yr Does anyone still think this was a poor idea? Time to discuss naming it after Garrett Morgan yet? Yes. :-) But I've already lost that battle. I would still like to see the intersection at E55 retained rather than introducing an interstate off-ramp there -- that has to be cheaper than the current off-ramp design.
May 31, 20187 yr I do. It's a waste of money. An utter waste. Beautified roads that bisect ghettos so often do nothing and have almost never benefited the local and regional communities. West siders will shave off a few minutes from university circle at best
June 1, 20187 yr I do. It's a waste of money. An utter waste. Beautified roads that bisect ghettos so often do nothing and have almost never benefited the local and regional communities. West siders will shave off a few minutes from university circle at best I think in past times, all that's been true. But I'd like to think urban planners have gotten a bit better at things now. There's very little transit right now in this dead zone and even less business/employment. The OC will create both. Hating on suburban commuters is really pointless.
June 1, 20187 yr I didn't mean to come across as hating west siders, just making the point that they will likely be receiving benefits alone, and their time savings isn't even that significant. People and businesses just aren't going to flock to that area, which begs the question why are we spending $350 million in the first place.
June 1, 20187 yr People and businesses just aren't going to flock to that area, which begs the question why are we spending $350 million in the first place. you might be surprised. The northern most point of the OC has already created some developable land near the Cleveland Clinic and it's getting snapped up. I suspect other areas of newly created commercial fronts will too much like other areas of midtown/Carnegie... And for your other point, why are we spending this money in the first place? Because doing nothing has.... done nothing.
June 1, 20187 yr Does anyone still think this was a poor idea? Time to discuss naming it after Garrett Morgan yet? Garrett Morgan Parkway has a nice ring to it.
June 1, 20187 yr Does anyone still think this was a poor idea? Time to discuss naming it after Garrett Morgan yet? Garrett Morgan Parkway has a nice ring to it. The irony of course is the dearth of traffic lights :-)
June 1, 20187 yr Does anyone still think this was a poor idea? Time to discuss naming it after Garrett Morgan yet? Yes. :-) But I've already lost that battle. I would still like to see the intersection at E55 retained rather than introducing an interstate off-ramp there -- that has to be cheaper than the current off-ramp design. There we agree. The designs I have seen make zero sense.
June 1, 20187 yr Does anyone still think this was a poor idea? Time to discuss naming it after Garrett Morgan yet? Garrett Morgan Parkway has a nice ring to it. The irony of course is the dearth of traffic lights :-) Some is more than an actual freeway would have had. :)
June 1, 20187 yr I do. It's a waste of money. An utter waste. Beautified roads that bisect ghettos so often do nothing and have almost never benefited the local and regional communities. West siders will shave off a few minutes from university circle at best It also makes the trip from Hopkins much more direct.
June 1, 20187 yr I do. It's a waste of money. An utter waste. Beautified roads that bisect ghettos so often do nothing and have almost never benefited the local and regional communities. West siders will shave off a few minutes from university circle at best It also makes the trip from Hopkins much more direct. It also makes trips to the west side and I77 corridor easier from The Heights.
June 1, 20187 yr The primary beneficiaries of this project are the uptown and heights areas. And whatever benefit is provided to west side commuters is also provided to all visitors arriving in Cleveland, from every direction except the northeast.
June 1, 20187 yr ^ I agree. I think this project is worthwhile. Exactly. Even though some view it as a wider MLK style blvd, which itself during rush hours becomes UC's defacto driveway, the fact that this will open up all this property that has basically been abandoned for decades to development is HUGE. Unlike MLK blvd, the property adjacent to this road and in the neighborhoods off of it can be redeveloped and provide jobs to people who live there now and to those who will in the future. My employer is looking at several opportunities along this route.
June 1, 20187 yr It also makes the trip from Hopkins much more direct. I definitely agree with you here. Transplants from donors that come from Hopkins have a more direct route to UC, CC, and UH. This project benefits more than just UC. It's going to help the medical industry, the RTA and... well... the ghetto... I believe it will ease traffic to and from the Q and Jacob's Field onto the highway from the East which is fine for me being a south burb local. I could just take the main roads to go see an event in less time than heading north and sitting in standstill highway traffic.
June 1, 20187 yr Does anyone still think this was a poor idea? Time to discuss naming it after Garrett Morgan yet? Garrett Morgan Parkway has a nice ring to it. Especially if a few of the kids in the neighborhood start asking who he was.
June 1, 20187 yr ^ I agree. I think this project is worthwhile. Exactly. Even though some view it as a wider MLK style blvd, which itself during rush hours becomes UC's defacto driveway, the fact that this will open up all this property that has basically been abandoned for decades to development is HUGE. Unlike MLK blvd, the property adjacent to this road and in the neighborhoods off of it can be redeveloped and provide jobs to people who live there now and to those who will in the future. My employer is looking at several opportunities along this route. It's the definition of a good political compromise IMO. ODOT and their people want a freeway, and the city said, well here's what we want. They got lots of money they never would have got otherwise for land cleanup, site assembly, improvements to the transit stations which we know would never have been paid for by ODOT otherwise, etc. To say it's just another highway like when they put in the interstates is way off base. So much more concessions, negotiations, attempts at external benefits to the area, that never happened back then. Follow through on all that will still be crucial, of course.
June 1, 20187 yr Just one transit station is being upgraded as a result of this project (East 105/Quincy). The East 79th stations (Red Line and Blue/Green Lines) aren't yet funded. No other transit improvements are being actively contemplated as part of Opportunity Corridor. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 1, 20187 yr Thanks for clarifying. Aren't they doing something with pedestrian connections to the stations (particularly 55th), even if the stations themselves won't be renovated?
June 1, 20187 yr There's a lot of good information in here: https://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/ClevelandUrbanCoreProjects/OpportunityCorridor/Documents/_Cleveland%20Opportunity%20Corridor%20Project%20FEIS-ROD.pdf ODOT will construct enhanced bus shelters in areas where the existing bus lines will cross the new boulevard. Key intersections being considered include Kinsman Road, East 79th Street, Buckeye Road, and Quincy and Cedar avenues. ODOT will work with GCRTA during final design to identify the specific locations and the design of the shelters. ODOT will provide, at a minimum, $500,000 to be utilized for on-the-job training that will target training opportunities for individuals in the immediate vicinity of the project. Federal-aid transportation funds will not be utilized for this mitigation measure. ODOT will fund 80-percent (up to $3.2 million) of a project to extend the platform at and construct a new ADA-compliant entrance to the GCRTA E. 105th Street-Quincy Avenue train station. ODOT will contribute $500,000 toward the planned expansion of the Kenneth L. Johnson (Woodland) Recreational Center.
June 2, 20187 yr Transplants from donors that come from Hopkins have a more direct route to UC, CC, and UH. I'm trying to process this comment. Is there some research showing the organ donors are flying commercial into Cleveland, renting cars and driving to the Clinic to be cut open and donate their livers? And will saving 12 minutes in the rental car help this process? ;D FYI many donor organs and patients are flown in to the Clinic via Burke via their Cessna Citations.
June 2, 20187 yr And will saving 12 minutes in the rental car help this process? I know this was not the point of your reply, but I'm curious where you got this time savings. I think it exemplifies the unrealistic expectations people have for this road. Even if it were a limited access highway, it wouldn't save 12 minutes coming from the airport via I-71 or west side via I-90. Google Maps says it is 6.1 miles and 13 minutes to take the Innerbelt to Chester to Euclid to UH. Taking I-490 to the Opportunity Corridor will be 5.9 miles, only 2.3 of which are freeway. Even if you can traverse the 2.7 miles of the Opportunity Corridor, plus a few busy blocks between the end of the OC and UH in 8 minutes (which is questionable), it would only save 2-3 minutes and 0.2 miles of travel. If you have to stop at a couple lights along the way, the savings is probably neglible or non-existent. If the destination is the Cleveland Clinic main parking garage, Google Maps says the Innerbelt to Chester route is 4.9 miles and 9 minutes. Even in the best case scenario of catching every light on the Opportunity Corridor, it will probably be slightly LONGER to get to the Clinic than just taking Chester.
June 2, 20187 yr You assume getting to the innerbelt is easy but that's not always true. The idea here is allowing UC traffic to bypass downtown traffic. Even now, 55th is frequently gridlocked. 490 and Woodland will both back up for a mile with people trying to turn onto 55th. We're asking the current street grid to perform in a way it was not designed for. And sending UC traffic through the innerbelt asks the highway system to perform in a way it was not designed for. I know traffic is worse elsewhere but Cleveland's traffic should not be as bad as it is. The OC project should alleviate a lot of grief, even for people who aren't using it, because it will remove cars from other routes where they don't belong. Edited for UH/UC typo.
June 2, 20187 yr You assume getting to the innerbelt is easy but that's not always true. The idea here is allowing UH traffic to bypass downtown traffic. Even now, 55th is frequently gridlocked. 490 and Woodland will both back up for a mile with people trying to turn onto 55th. We're asking the current street grid to perform in a way it was not designed for. And sending UH traffic through the innerbelt asks the highway system to perform in a way it was not designed for. I know traffic is worse elsewhere but Cleveland's traffic should not be as bad as it is. The OC project should alleviate a lot of grief, even for people who aren't using it, because it will remove cars from other routes where they don't belong. Nobody should take 490/Woodland/E. 55 to University Circle. It is much easier, especially with the new Innerbelt bridge done, to go over the bridge and get off at Chester or Carnegie. I make this drive often during rush hour and it moves pretty well most of the time.
June 2, 20187 yr I usually avoid it but I don't always have a choice. And the innerbelt fares even worse. With recent work on the 176 ramp, the innerbelt lanes of 90 are sometimes backed up beyond city limits in the morning. The 490 lanes usually breeze through until you get near 55th, but if that's backed up you can see it from a distance and switch to 77 north, then get off at Woodland/30th and bypass the whole mess.
June 2, 20187 yr Yes, but the 176 ramp work is temporary. I don't see this being as much of a time savings as people think. The other benefits are what could make this project worth it, so I hope people are right about those.
June 2, 20187 yr And will saving 12 minutes in the rental car help this process? I know this was not the point of your reply, but I'm curious where you got this time savings. I was just being mildly snarky trying to fathom how a better route affects donors and organs. I did zero research on the time savings of using this new corridor vs Chester, etc.
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