Cleveland Innerbelt Corridor Study Alternative Concepts Table of Contents

CLEVELAND& HINNERBELonlo ulr*" lwt- Cleveland Innerbelt Corridor Study Alternative Concepts Table of Contents Introduction Draft Purpose and Need Rehabilitation/ReconstructionConcept TransitIHOV Concept ITSITSM Concept Downtown Portal A Concept Downtown Portal B Concept Frontage Road Concept University Circle Access Boulevard Concept University Circle Access Freeway Concept herbelt Boulevard Concept Flats Connector Component CLEVELAND INNERBELT STUDY ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTS REVISIONS (Changes from 11/08/01 document) REHABILITATION / RECONSTRUCTION CONCEPT Removal of rehabilitatiodreplacement of the Shoreway pavements and bridges from West 3rd Street and extending east along the Shoreway to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. The rehabilitatiodreplacement of these Shoreway pavements and bridges will be undertaken as part of the Cleveland Lakefiont Study. TRANSITJHOV CONCEPT Deletion of 1-90 (Shoreway) HOV component. This component will be evaluated by the Cleveland Lakefiont Study. Deletion of East 55" Street Park and Ride facility. Relocation of proposed 1-77 Park and Ride facilities to 1-77 and the Ohio Turnpike and 1-77 at State Route 82. Deletion of proposed West 25thStreet HOV lane and corresponding express bus service. Deletion of proposed 1-77 HOV lane. ITSITSM CONCEPT (Intelligent Transportation System/Transportation System Management) No changes. / - DOWNTOWN PORTAL A CONCEPT Area encompassing widening of 1-77 (reference number 4 on map) has been reduced to area just inside I-77lI-490 interchange area. DOWNTOWN PORTAL B CONCEPT Area encompassing widening of 1-77 (reference number 4 on map) has been reduced to area just inside I-77lI-490 interchange area The interchanges at East 72nd Street and Martin Luther King on 1-90 near Gordon Park are removed from consideration as part of the Downtown Portal B concept. The possible reconfiguration of these interchanges will be undertaken as part of the Cleveland Lakefront Study. FRONTAGE ROAD SYSTEM CONCEPT Area encompassing widening of 1-77 (reference number 4 on map) has been reduced to area just inside I-77lI-490 interchange area. The interchanges at East 72ndStreet and Martin Luther King on 1-90 near Gordon Park are removed fiom consideration as part of the Downtown Portal B concept. The possible reconfiguration of these interchanges will be undertaken as part of the Cleveland Lakefiont Study. Improvements to the West 7" Streen-490 interchange removed as a component of the Flats Connector. In place of these interchange improvements, a new, low-level river crossing is proposed just to the north of the old Jefferson Avenue crossing. DRAFT 5/09/02 COLLECTOR-DISTRIBUTOR SYSTEM CONCEPT Concept removed fiom consideration as an alternative due to findings of Geometric Review. UNIVERSITY CIRCLE ACCESS (UCA) BOULEVARD CONCEPT Area encompassing widening of 1-77 (reference number 4 on map) has been reduced to area just inside I-77A-490 interchange area. Removal of improvements to the I-77Noodland Avenuelorange Avenue interchange and removal of improvements to the Ontario/Woodland/OrangeiBroadway Boulevard. Removal of the UCA Boulevard alignment that was originally shown utilizing the East 55Ih and Woodland Avenue comdor. Addition of a UCA Boulevard alignment through an existing brownfield. UNIVERSITY CIRCLE ACCESS (UCA) FREEWAY CONCEPT Area encompassing widening of 1-77 (reference number 4 on map) has been reduced to area just inside I-77A-490 interchange area. Removal of improvements to the I-77Noodland AvenueIOrange Avenue interchange and removal of improvements to the Ontario/Woodland~Orange/Broadway Boulevard. Reduction of the number of proposed interchanges along the new 1-490 alignment fiom 8 to 5 to satis@ minimum interchange spacing requirements. , INNERBELT BOULEVARD CONCEPT Reduction of the number of proposed interchanges along the new 1-490 alignment fiom 8 to 5 to satis@ minimum interchange spacing requirements. F'LATS CONNECTOR Addition of a second Flats Connector alignment. In this second alignment, improvements to the West 7" Streeta-490 interchange removed as a component of the Flats Connector. In place of these interchange improvements, a new, low-level river crossing is proposed just to the north of the old Jefferson Avenue crossing. DRAFT CLEVELAND INNERBELT STUDY ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTS Introduction The Cleveland Innerbelt Study has been undertaken by the Ohio Department of Transportation for the purpose of developing a strategy for the intelligent renewal of the transportation infrastructure in the I-71A-90conidor through downtown Cleveland. The pavements and structures comprising the Innerbelt fieeway system through Cleveland are approaching the end of their useful life and are in need of extensive rehabilitation and reconstruction. Additionally, the Innerbelt system is plagued by a series of capacity bottlenecks and locations not meeting present day highway design standards, which contribute to peak hour traffic congestion, high accident rates, and traffic diversions through central city neighborhoods, which degrades the quality of life for Cleveland residents. This study seeks to address the problems outlined in the Draft Purpose and Need Statement (summary included herein) through development of an overall strategy, or master plan, for the redevelopment of the transportation system in the corridor. It is anticipated that in 2007 ODOT will initiate construction of a sequence of projects that will comprise the overall strategy. i The current development of the Alternative Concepts is a major step in the preparation of the strategy. In this phase of the project the ODOT Study Team is outlining the initial set of concepts to be evaluated and refined in an ongoing development process to arrive at the final preferred strategy or plan. The concepts outlined in this brochure have been developed to address the problems outlined in the Draft Purpose and Need. They represent multimodal alternatives that could be undertaken, individually or in concert with one and other to meet the needs of the corridor. In this phase of the process, the concepts are being developed and refined with the assistance of the Cleveland community. ODOT is holding an ongoing series of meetings with the public to gather input and ideas to refine the concepts. The concepts presented in this brochure are, in fact, refinements of earlier concepts presented initially in October 2001. This refinement process will continue through January 2002. In January, the Study Team will begin to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness and impacts of these concepts. This will be done based on an established set of performance measures, or evaluation criteria. Based on this evaluation, the best concepts will be selected, including combinations of the concepts shown here, and refined further for more detailed scrutiny and impact assessment and eventually will be developed into the final improvement strategy. Please take this opportunity to review and comment on the alternative concepts contained in this document. Your input does matter and your voice will be heard. DRAFT PURPOSE AND NEED STATEMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Cleveland Innerbelt is a high capacity, limited access highway extending from Cleveland's West 25' Street on the west side of the Cuyahoga River, across the valley and around the southern and eastern edges of downtown to the City's lakefront district at Burke Lakefront Airport. Combined with other portions of the interstate network in Cuyahoga makes Cleveland a major crossroads for commerce. 1.1 Project History - Ground was broken for the original Viaduct Bridge in May of 1887. In January of 1941, 53 years after it's opening, the Central Viaduct was condemned and closed to traffic. The steel trusses that carried traffic into the city were converted into scrap during World War II. After the Central Viaduct was closed, nearly twenty years went by before another bridge was built on the right- of-way. The entrance and exit ramps from this freeway would form the "Central Interchange," which would provide efficient capacity for downtown traffic with the completion of the proposed radial freeways. Today the bridge cames over 160,000 vehicles per day and has met the long range plans that the city originally had in mind for it, but Cleveland's current traffic needs have surpassed what the bridge can accommodate. This major investment study was initiated, 41 years after the bridge opened, to find solutions to the city's current traffic problems. 1.2 Study Area Description The Innerbelt begins just west of the 1-71 and West 25" Street interchange and proceeds north along 1-71 past the merger with State Route (SR) 156 (Jennings Freeway) to the I-71L-90/I-490 interchange where 1-71 ends. From this point, the Innerbelt proceeds east along 1-90, over the Central Viaduct bridge, and continues north along the eastern edge of downtown Cleveland in a depressed section of freeway, through the Innerbelt Curve to where it merges with SR 2 (the Shoreway). The Innerbelt includes all of the freeway ramp connections with the local street system as well as interstates and state routes. The Innerbelt Corridor refers to the freeway facilities described above as well as the freeway and surface street network that feeds the Jnnerbelt. 2.0 DRAFT PURPOSE AND NEED The purpose of this study is to develop a strategy for the intelligent renewal of the transportation infrastructure within the Innerbelt Corridor. The majority of this infrastructure was constructed over a ten-year period that began in the late 1950's. This corridor has endured nearly forty years of traffic and an equal number of Northeast Ohio winters. As a result, the Innerbelt Comdor is not designed to today's standards and is in need of substantial rehabilitation. Consequently, the purpose of the proposed project is to: Undertake a major rehabilitation of bridge decks and pavements. Enhance the roadway capacity through the corridor to address the projected traffic volumes in the design year 2025. Develop improvements to the Innerbelt Corridor that will increase the level of motorist safety. Improve the existing highway interchanges to meet current design standards. Eliminate substandard weave sections at entrancelexit ramps to the Innerbelt.

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