heading into downtown from the west. have you ever tried taking the e9 exit ramp and there is traffic on your right, trying to merge onto the shoreway? Maybe not from amtrak- could be from a parking garage. Anyhow its an awkward, dangerous situation.

 

The Amtrak exit does indeed go straight up the E. 9th ramp. The approach you're talking about is from the W. 3rd Shoreway on ramp. Yes, I agree, completely dangerous.

 

oh. I see now. Thanks for clarifying. I wonder if those drivers realize they can just go up the ramp cross e9 and enter the shoreway that way.

oh. I see now. Thanks for clarifying. I wonder if those drivers realize they can just go up the ramp cross e9 and enter the shoreway that way.

 

ODOT should just close off that merge section and make all traffic from the W 3rd ramp go straight through to the E9th ramp. Yeah, you'd hit a traffic light, but seems better than having that dangerous intersection.

ODOT should just close off that merge section and make all traffic from the W 3rd ramp go straight through to the E9th ramp. Yeah, you'd hit a traffic light, but seems better than having that dangerous intersection.

 

The city has proposed this, but Downtown Cleveland Alliance has opposed it.

ODOT should just close off that merge section and make all traffic from the W 3rd ramp go straight through to the E9th ramp. Yeah, you'd hit a traffic light, but seems better than having that dangerous intersection.

 

The city has proposed this, but Downtown Cleveland Alliance has opposed it.

 

Any particular reason why?

Any particular reason why?

 

Of course. DCA considers it a ramp closure. DCA has a standing policy against ramp closures.

thats unfortunate. ive seen a few accidents and countless of close calls over the years.

They would rather see the traffic "weave" redesigned.

 

A video of the West 73rd construction.

 

 

Courtesy of Matt Zone's Facebook page.

At about 10 a.m. Jan. 13, Amtrak train #48 from Chicago to New York City and Boston with about 300 people on board slows from 79 mph to negotiate its way through the shoofly around the West 73rd Street underpass to the Shoreway. The permanent track under which West 73rd is being extended are behind the train. This train was running late due to severe cold in Chicago causing train equipment to freeze up in the Amtrak rail yards just south of The Loop. Normally, all the Amtrak trains pass through Cleveland in darkness, so this was a unique chance for a friend to get this picture....

 

Great shot! The pic is almost exactly in front of my house ?

 

 

Slightly off-topic: I wish Amtrak would finally allow pets on the train so I could go to New York and Chicago via train.

Great shot! The pic is almost exactly in front of my house ?

 

 

Slightly off-topic: I wish Amtrak would finally allow pets on the train so I could go to New York and Chicago via train.

 

Check out:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2068.msg740398#msg740398

I was wondering if the RTA could bring some trains down this track, but then I remembered the type of trains the RTA has as well as the possible interference with the Amtrack schedule. #SadFace.

I was wondering if the RTA could bring some trains down this track, but then I remembered the type of trains the RTA has as well as the possible interference with the Amtrack schedule. #SadFace.

 

No interference with Amtrak. The much more frequent freight traffic is a greater hindrance. That can be addressed if another track or two is laid to ensure the freight traffic is not delayed, if the operator of the transit service has at least a half-billion dollars in liability insurance, and trains are built to "survive" collisions with freight trains are used. Amtrak trains are so designed. GCRTA trains are not. And any service over this line has to gain the permission of the freight railroad (Norfolk Southern) which owns the tracks. Railroads are privately owned, financed and managed. They are not open-access, government-owned infrastructure like highways or airports.

 

But this is all a discussion for another thread.

Another great photo of the construction site.....

 

^^^c'mon KJP!  Haven't you gotten all that freight traffic rerouted yet?   

 

I would put that high on the list for our elected leaders to help continue development in Detroit Shoreway and the Flats.

Finally took a walk out to the construction site today after a month or more.

 

The bridge for the railroad now completely spans the dig so that you could walk across it.  They've been making steady progress.

I forget their timeline. Is it supposed to finish up this year (the battery park to shoreway connector)?

 

I also noticed that they've announced the next phase as the 4 "park side" town homes are listed for sale. Given the market, that seems like a small phase. Any word on what else they'll try to build and sell this year?

When are they going to demo those old warehouse buildings at the NE corner of 73rd where it starts under the tracks

Vintage owns those and plans on demolishing those this year, once the ppl are finished moving everything out

I heard the same story over a year ago.  All that's in there is garbage.  Vintage is trying to get free money from the city to do the demolition

I forget their timeline. Is it supposed to finish up this year (the battery park to shoreway connector)?

 

 

 

I think the W 73rd extension is to be done Fall 2015.

 

 

Then they'll close down the Route 2  eastbound Edgewater exit again from around Labor Day 2015 over the Winter for the last of it... then I think fully opened for good Spring 2016.

 

Construction at Battery Park W73rd viewed from the Shoreway a couple of days ago.  The bridge is for the RR tracks.  They've made a lot of progress.

What's the latest commitment from Cleveland to replace & upgrade the rest of 73rd all the way up to Detroit?  As this main interchange gets closer to completion, that section of 73rd will be desperately in need of upgrades to the roadway, sidewalks, curbs, streetlights & landscaping...

^ the funding is secure for the replacement and upgrade with buried utilities.  Residents are pushing for increased safety measures.

Was speaking to one of my neighbors ... not exactly an official source but he said that the "pour was curing" and that the bridge will be done soon.  RR tracks to be moved back to original position in June.  Father Caruso from 67th to 70th by end of Summer.

 

 

 

 

 

Not the best pic but ... that truck north of the RR tracks at W 70th was laying down fresh railroad ties atop the tracks.  I take that as a sign they're getting ready to cut out the shoefly and re-route back to normal and over the new bridge.

I love the pic! Can I come over for a day or two and watch trains from your deck? :)

Councilman @zonemat and @ODOT_Cleveland invite you to a West Shoreway update http://t.co/n9jQlAClTy

Cleveland Scene ‏@Cleveland_Scene  39s39 seconds ago

West Shoreway Overhaul Imminent via @ericsandy

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2015/06/09/west-shoreway-overhaul-imminent …

 

^ Nice! All the snark was in the right place. Positive run. Way to go Scene.

Get your dose of Cleveland.com idiocy in the comments here:

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/06/answers_to_your_questions_about_the_west_shoreway_conversion.html

 

Maybe some UO responses to them would help even the playing field?  :)

^ Resistance is futile

Get your dose of Cleveland.com idiocy in the comments here:

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/06/answers_to_your_questions_about_the_west_shoreway_conversion.html

 

Maybe some UO responses to them would help even the playing field?  :)

 

Looks like the "Badger" obsessed person is off their meds.  Some pretty good examples of how *not* to convince the other side, on both sides.

That Badger person spends their entire day fighting with internet trolls (has become one him/herself).  Its become that persons calling in life, to squash any negativity about the city.  I do find it ridiculously funny at times.

That Badger person spends their entire day fighting with internet trolls (has become one him/herself).  Its become that persons calling in life, to squash any negativity about the city.  I do find it ridiculously funny at times.

 

The original "Badger" is/was somewhat of a troll as well, but when you name your persona after someone else, you've kind of gone off the deep end.

 

Note:  The non-original lurks here.  It tried to call me out on that thread, I replied by tagging its original screen name.  De-lete....

West Shoreway lane closures are in place to convert freeway into a boulevard. Speed has also been reduced to 40 mph. Viewed from Clifton BRT.

 

West 73rd extension under NS tracks to Shoreway starting to appear.

 

Cleveland West 73rd extension to Shoreway under NS & Amtrak tracks to Chicago.

Pretty exciting that this project is actually happening now in 2015.  I have a big folder on the history of this project since it was first announced 10+ yrs ago.  Trying to think how many years overdue it actually is.  I think it was initially supposed to be done in 2012, maybe earlier considering Battery Park started in 2006.  Then they broke it out into separate projects  - 76th tunnel, 73rd tunnel, mainline boulevard, etc

Pretty exciting that this project is actually happening now in 2015.  I have a big folder on the history of this project since it was first announced 10+ yrs ago.  Trying to think how many years overdue it actually is.  I think it was initially supposed to be done in 2012, maybe earlier considering Battery Park started in 2006.  Then they broke it out into separate projects  - 76th tunnel, 73rd tunnel, mainline boulevard, etc

 

I was just looking back at the first few pages of this thread a few days ago and thinking how crazy it was that it's been almost 10 years

I was just looking back at the first few pages of this thread a few days ago and thinking how crazy it was that it's been almost 10 years

 

I don't even notice anymore. I've been following transportation projects since the early 1980s and I guess I've become accustomed to the long project development timelines.

Pretty exciting that this project is actually happening now in 2015.  I have a big folder on the history of this project since it was first announced 10+ yrs ago. 

 

Ha ha me too. It's right next to my enormous Lakefront Planning folder in a drawer....somewhere.

 

Man, I've been on the verge of recycling both of those so many times.

Today was the first day of the 40 mph speed limit. The Shocker that everyone still went 60 mph. :)

I'm surprised the CPD wasn't out there to do revenue-ing enforce the new, lower limit.

Hopefully the police are as aware as everyone else that I-90 is still down to one lane inbound with the construction there.  This shoulda coulda waited until after the I-90 work was complete.

Hopefully the police are as aware as everyone else that I-90 is still down to one lane inbound with the construction there.  This shoulda coulda waited until after the I-90 work was complete.

 

Are you referring to the Inner Belt bridge? That's a decade-long project.

I refer specifically the constriction at the Tremont curve, which is being widened to two lanes right now.  That aspect won't take 10 years.  Seems quite sensible to get that second lane open on 90 prior to constricting the shoreway.

You mean the I-90 ramp up to join with I-71? If so, that ramp has been two lanes since it was built. It's reconstruction is part of the Inner Belt project which is a 10-year endeavor. By the time it is done, I suspect the earliest-built sections will be due for a resurfacing.

That ramp is one lane right now, with a lot of work currently underway on it.  That work will end, presumably in less than 10 years, at which point 90's capacity will be doubled from what it is at this moment.  A little bit of coordination would go a long way toward defusing complaints that people have raised about the shoreway project. 

 

It's one thing to point out that commuter concerns can't always win, but it's another to screw commuters unnecessarily.  Starting this now without regard to I-90's status smacks of the latter.  And ultimately, screwing downtown commuters also screws downtown, in its competition with other office markets.  Regardless of overall intent, we're talking about an avoidable increase in the number of people who get upset about going downtown.  All I'm saying is that the timing should have been planned out better, for everyone's sake.

And ODOT made up for it by expanding capacity via an alternative routing over I-490 and I-77. Yes, it's not ideal. But given the state of transportation and infrastructure funding in this country, I would suggest that whenever a public agency like ODOT gets its hands on reconstruction funding, they'd better use it or lose it -- especially when it's for the route (West Shoreway/Clifton BRT) I use to get to the office!