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Moving and improving Innerbelt bridge
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In early December, 2005 Cuyahoga County Planning Commission published a slideshow promoting an "iconic Innerbelt bridge design," citing benefits to the region's image, downtown traffic flow, and downtown redevelopment.
It received a tremendous outpouring of public support. Some signs that ODOT was listening may be read in their awarding the engineering and design contract, in mid-December 2005, to the firm that includes the designer of the elegant, cable-stay Leonard Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston.
In February, 2006 Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson met with Senator George Voinovich and others to resolve the alignment issue of the new bridge. The group supported ODOT's recommendation to build it north of the current structure, a plan state engineers insist will be less disruptive than an alternative southern alignment proposed by the county.
The bridge design team's challenge now is to make it "eye-catching and cost-effective. It needs to rise out of downtown without creating a forbidding concrete canyon and to skate past Tremont with minimal impact on the neighborhood," Plain Dealer art & architecture critic Steven Litt writes. ODOT would like to complete the bridge in 2009.
Don't think great bridge design can happen in Ohio? Look no farther than Toledo, where the I-280 Maumee River Crossing Main Span is under construction. The $220 million Cable Stayed "Signature Bridge" over the Maumee River is the largest single project in ODOT history.
The state seeks input on the design and alignment of the new Innerbelt bridge, or leave a comment here.
Related topics
Bike/pedestrian way on Innerbelt Bridge
Updates
New ODOT administration spurs letter of support for southern bridge alignment and minimal build. (3-6-07)
ODOT Innerbelt Project Manager Craig Hebebrand tells NOACA committee that the replacement of the existing eastbound Innerbelt bridge (scheduled for 2014) could be aligned further south. (2-1-07)
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Take back the Innerbelt Plan
Susan Miller Says:Here is my latest rant (published today in CoolCleveland). I urge you to take action on this important issue. We have tried to make it simple.
“I wondered why I hadn’t seen anything about ODOT [Ohio Department of Transportation] and the Innerbelt Plan in Cool Cleveland lately, but I have discovered that they [ODOT] have excused the public from the process while they decide how to spend our BILLION dollars. They politely asked for our opinion, and now that they have heard us, they can go back to their original plans.
If you think that you can trust ODOT and the Federal Highway Department with your tax dollars think again. These are the guys who made the trench and dead man’s curve in the first place. They are the same guys who had to be stopped from running a freeway right through the Shaker Lakes. And remember the south bound exit to the airport area. Now theses are some really well thought out traffic plans. NOT! Now you may say, I live in Westlake, Euclid, Garfield, Cleveland Heights; what do I care about the Innerbelt Bridge? Well you might care about the economy in Cleveland.
In a city continually deemed one of the poorest cities in the country, a city so desperate for any economic influx that it will weigh the obvious downside of casino gambling against the potential cash; that tries to attract supermarkets to superfund sites; wants to build a big box almost anywhere; you would think that before we take on a project that will totally change the face of transportation into and out of its central city, its business district, its sportsplexs and its now famous waterfront; a project that provides one of the largest infusions of cash we have ever seen, we would take the time to do an economic impact study before moving forward. This is a project that could clearly make or break this city’s economic future.
You have a choice—you have given your money to the government, and now they are going to spend it. You and your neighbors have been duped-you’ve been uninvited to the table where your future is being planned once again. You can sit back while ODOT spends 9 million dollars to build a one way signature bridge out of town or tell your elected officials that you want them to follow their road map, do the environmental, the engineering and the economic impact studies, to carefully consider the alternatives and let the public back into the process. If you don’t have time to be there for that process, others do. Right now – I do. You can learn more and take action here. www.neobridge.net
Add your voice to a growing chorus of voices who don’t want to just let Columbus decide. You don’t have to write a letter. It only takes a minute. www.neobridge.net/take_action”
If you disagree or have questions, please comment here and/or on the neobridge site, so we can consider these concerns. It’s about addressing all the concerns. It is time to put those social networks to work to leverage a brighter future.
Please take action and pass the link along to others.