Opportunity Corridor

Opportunity Corridor
Route information
Existed: 2008 – present
Major junctions
West end: I‑490 / East 55th Street in Cleveland
East end: US 322 in Cleveland
Location
Counties: Cuyahoga
Highway system

The Opportunity Corridor is an expressway in Cleveland, Ohio, under construction as of 2016, that is planned to connect Interstate 77 and Interstate 490 to the University Circle neighborhood.

History

In the 1960s, Cuyahoga County had planned to build a freeway called the Clark Freeway in Cleveland and environs, part of a network of planned freeways, along a portion of what became Interstate 90, all of what became Interstate 490, and eastward to the Outerbelt East Freeway (Interstate 271). The highway ultimately was not built east of East 55th Street due to freeway revolts. For more details, see Interstate 490 (Ohio)#History.

Later plans for a highway along this general routing included a plan to build a freeway northeastward to Interstate 90/Ohio State Route 2/Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, rejected in 2002,[1] and a highway proposed by Ken Blackwell in his failed bid during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign.[2]

Active project

The current project as of 2016, part of the Innerbelt project, involves building an expressway to University Circle, named the "Opportunity Corridor". This iteration was conceived in 2008;[3] its Record of Decision was issued in May 2014.[4][5] Construction began in March 2015 along the portion east of East 93rd Street; construction along the remainder is to begin in 2017.[6][7]

The Ohio Department of Transportation has proposed that the highway receive an extension of the Ohio State Route 10 designation.[8][9]

Opposition

The Opportunity Corridor has a number of opponents, including a grassroots group, Clevelanders for Transportation Equity.[10] Many of the objections are rooted in the upheaval of the local community, which is predominantly lower income and African-American.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Exner, Rich (February 15, 2002). "East Side Highway Options Hit Wall: State, Federal Officials Urge Scrapping Plan". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland).
  2. ↑ Wendling, Ted (August 18, 2006). "Foe Blasts Blackwell's 'Summit' with Contractors". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland).
  3. ↑ Nichols, Jim (June 27, 2008). "Cleveland's Opportunity Corridor Project Gets Back on Track". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland). Retrieved June 30, 2008.
  4. ↑ HNTB (May 1, 2014). The Cleveland Opportunity Corridor Project: Final Environmental Impact Statement / Record of Decision (PDF). Federal Highway Administration/Ohio Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  5. ↑ Grant, Alison (May 29, 2014). "Opportunity Corridor Gets Federal Signoff, Clearing Way for 3.5-Mile Boulevard". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland). Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  6. ↑ Grant, Alison (December 18, 2014). "Inner Belt, Opportunity Corridor Move Along, Road Repair Plan Nixed". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland). Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  7. ↑ Grant, Alison (March 13, 2015). "Opportunity Corridor Crews Begin Work on Monday Along a Section of East 105th Street". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland). Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  8. ↑ City of Cleveland (October 1, 2013). "Opportunity Corridor Public Hearing" (PDF). City of Cleveland. p. 19. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  9. ↑ Ohio Department of Transportation (March 2015). "District 12: 2015 Construction Program" (PDF). Ohio Department of Transportation. p. 21. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  10. ↑ Clevelanders for Transportation Equity. "Clevelanders for Transportation Equity". Clevelanders for Transportation Equity. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  11. ↑ Breckenridge, Tom (July 18, 2011). "Opportunity Corridor's Latest Alignment Would Uproot More than 90 Families, a Dozen Businesses". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland). Retrieved July 19, 2011.

Further reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.