It is difficult to come to any other conclusion than advanced energy will be a multitrillion dollar global industry within the space of a few decades, one which needs now to be invented largely from scratch. With its manufacturing heritage and materials excellence, Ohio can become a global hub of technology and business expertise in advanced energy. No place in the world is necessarily poised to dominate all forms of advanced energy, and Ohio can effectively compete to claim a major place at the advanced energy table. Thus, advanced energy can be the vehicle by which Ohio can reclaim the economic leadership it had achieved in the early 20th Century and has since lost.
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A new direction for the Innerbelt?
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The Innerbelt Project stands to be the largest infrastructure investment in our lifetimes. Will it be an investment in sustainable urban growth (one of the framers' key goals) or will it only focus on moving traffic?
ODOT has released its environmental impact statement which claims that no major impacts will be felt. We argue that ODOT’s framework and therefore the process has been flawed from the outset. This is an urban redevelopment, not a road building project. If ODOT were a sustainable transportation agency, its modeling would look beyond the flow of traffic on the highway to consider the impact that closing downtown ramps will have on air quality as cars stack up at the one remaining downtown exit. ODOT admits the ramp closing at Carnegie will impact on surface streets during rush hour and urban planners such as Tom Bier have noted it will lead to the granddaddy of all traffic snarls.
In a larger sense, we haven’t once considered the role a sustainable long-range transportation plan has in shaping the Innerbelt. Has ODOT considered while adding more capacity for cars the Innerbelt may induce more sprawl and create more air pollution? We deserve better than what we’re getting now. At minimum, we need to consider the impact of the Carnegie exit closing and insist on a signature
Innerbelt
Bridge with bike lanes. Read the case for bike lanes on the bridge,and a vision to handle the bulk of the region's transportation issues here. And leave your comments for ODOT here, or tell them in person at tonight’s public meeting about the Innerbelt Environmental Impact Statement.
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ODOT thick as a brick
Susan Miller Says:These guys are incorrigible. They are make work, not make sustainability. If it's not sustainable it makes work in the future. This is immediately apparent in the 1 way westbound 5 lane bridge. It is also apparent in their disrespect for our county planner who suggested a 2 way bridge on a southern alignment. They refused to offer alternatives in the section 106 review and the entire process was a sham and a waste of time because thy have driven this just the way they wanted it from the outset. Including not maintaining the current bridge over the years so that they may now employ the shock doctrine tactics of panic and fear. It's more of the Story of Stuff and planned obsolescence.
27 interstate bridges have bike lanes. Why not Cleveland?
Brad Chase Says:27 interstate highway bridges have bike lanes. Why not Cleveland?
The Missouri Bicycle Federation has put together an extensive list of interstate bridges that accomodate bike traffic. Their partial list includes 27 Interstate Highway bridges that include bike lanes. These include:
I80 in San Francisco
I278 in New York City
I279 in Pittsburgh
I494 in Minneapolis
I95 in Washington, D.C.
I90 in Chicago
I5 in Portland, Oregon.
Having bike lanes integrated on the Innerbelt Bridge is hardly a revolutionary or untried idea, and ODOT can learn from other agencies that have completed similar projects.
Even Winston-Salem, NC has committed to building bike lanes on an I40 bridge. The region's comprehensive plan recognizes that federal law requires bicycles and pedestrians to be accomodated on all new or renovated bridge deck structures.
Additionally, the FHWA has released "Bicycling and Pedestrian Guidance" documentation that details what funding can be used, and how to incorporate bike lanes into interstate highway projects.
If Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and Winston-Salem are incorporating bike lanes, and the Federal government is doing much of the leg work on how to build and fund bike lanes, why isn't ODOT doing this on their own....in 2009?
Greater Clevelanders must demand that ODOT:
1) build transportation infrastructure that serves the needs of the community AND
2) follows federal law requiring bike lanes on new bridge projects
What is a sustainable bridge?
Marc Lefkowitz Says:Very astute observations - this does feel like planned obsolescence of our cities, our infrastructure. I've been thinking about why ODOT is ignoring sustainability. Why do they feel they can spend our money in ways that don't reflect values like built to last (what does it say about us when we allow this type of stuck in the past thinking)? How does a culture of mediocrity calcify?
It all points to a lack of vision and a need for new leadership with better ideas that have goals like diverse socio-economic populations and multiple modes of transportation served (25% of Clevelanders don't own a car). Where are the new ideas in infrastructure at ODOT? I'd like a policy that looks at all infrastructure, including bridges, as more than pipelines for cars. There's a framework for this called Complete Streets. I think the new Innerbelt Bridge should act less like a 1950s phone and more a broadband connection -- its diverse and more valuable when it serves lots of uses at once (voice-data-music-video or in this case bikes-dedicated bus-train-pedestrians).
A multipurpose bridge
Marc Lefkowitz Says:Sydney did what cool cities are doing—it's a model for the 21st century on how to build a bridge. Our comments to ODOT about the Innerbelt Bridge should define what we mean by "signature" as not just cable-stayed, but functional and diverse—and smart (what ODOT's proposing would be like building a house today and not wiring it to seamlessly handle your digital TV, computers, Internet connection, and all of the electronic gadgets we use). Let us consider what gas will cost, what carbon emissions will cost, and how to get more bang for our infrastructure buck while keeping more money in our pocket.
Sydney Harbor Bridge
johnwirtz Says:I like the Sydney Harbor Bridge as an example of a sustainable bridge. It carries seven lanes of car traffic that can all operate in either direction, a bus lane, two sets of train tracks, a bike path on one side, and a sidewalk on the other. People pay upwards of $100 to climb to the top. http://picasaweb.google.com/JWirtz79/Australia#5178066741102524546