Latest on Bridge is they are drilling test bores and moving forward

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 12:20.

 

From the picture above, taken May 22, 2006, it is pretty clear they are moving forward with the Northern Bridge plan. Here they are spending lots of money brilling test bores in the base of the Central Viaduct. I'm standing on the surface of the Viaduct above, looking across the valley that will be completely filled with a new bridge - all this and the land below the current I-90 bridge could be put into great use, if community leaders here had the vision and courage to stand up to some low level paper pushers in Columbus and their engineering firm. Clearly the current bridge should be moved to the South and this valley should be redeveloped from where I stand all the way to downtown.

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LANDMARK THESE ABUTMENTS

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 13:02.
 

ODOT   is a bunch of scheming obfuscators.  They claim a public process about bridge allignment while the public has been cuckolded. Typical Ohio government – play nasty bogus games with their taxpayer constituents.   

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Norm, you are on it.  The abutments in your photo were saved when the last bridge was removed because the demolition of the bridge contract precluded the demolition of the Berea Sandstone bridge support columns (a guess, but look up the contract and I'll wager $100.00 I'm right!).

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Citizen Hauser! Please get these columns in front of the Cleveland Landmark comm. ASAP. 

TIME 2 FILE INJUNCTION

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 13:09.
Since ODOT has not followed the prescribed public state and/or federal highway development policy, but are none the less spending money advancing a particular allignment, it is time to seek an injunction stopping all work on the project.    I know Massachusetts law, but not Ohio's very well.  We need feedback on this action to shackle ODOT = who is on the loose.  Dave Nash, want to take this on?

I'm not a lawyer, but I know a great view

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 13:19.

Catch your breath for a minute before you go getting everyone worked up about hiring lawyers - let Ed handle the defense process - we need offense. STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES - LOOK AT THE $ BILLION VIEW - LOOK AT THE $ MULTI-BILLION IN DEVELOPMENT LAND. We are being scammed by folks who want to force unnaturally high real estate prices on scarce parcels, destroying historic property, threatening ED, playing every political game and trick, all because the developers don't have the creativity to compete at the world-class level. We need to step up to a higher level of sophisticated planning - get our mapping folks to work - and our designers and planners - on a vision for the Cuyahoga Valley that does not have a bridge going through this photo (except the totally cool rail bridge down yonder, and the beautiful Lorain Carnegie)... see my MultiDATA proposal and read around REALNEO for more on what should go down here, being the future of the region's new economy... propose your ideas - let's open some eyes!

WAIT AND BE OUTMANEUVERED

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 13:34.

  Norm, 

I'm quoting you here: 

"all because the developers don't have the creativity to compete at the world-class level" . 

 I think you're wrong.  It isn't a lack of creativity on the part of developers.  In my opinion, that isn't cynical enough.  It has to do with money,  in my opinion, not lack of refined tastes. 

While you wait to get your more enlightened plan in place, these guys will have traffic running over your bella vista. 

I say go legal now, or your efforts and other's enlightened plans are dead meat.

 There is a legal theory to support rapid action – called “self help”.  If you know you are being damaged,  and don’t take real action to stop that damage,  your claimed position is vastly undermined. 

You team up with Ed on the process - I'm sure he needs help

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 14:26.

Don't let me discourage every line of attack - but nobody is preaching bold vision for the valley, and this is all about showing alternatives - let me hear a rally cry for mapping the vision - for creating the postcards we talked about at the first meeting - about coming together as a community - about pulling Paul Alsenas back into the spotlight. Let's start holding individuals accountable for their peice of the solution, divide and conquer. Who else is interested?

I personally want to shift my focus to a hard push for the right solution at the Coast Guard Station, and getting attention to the historic property planned for demolition by WalStein.

PUBLICLY BID CONTRACT

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 13:56.

The test boring for the bridge project will be a substantially sized public contract - I would guess over a 1/4 of a million.    The contract would have been advertized for at least several weeks,  if not a month before it was let by ODOT.    Records for this public contract should be readily available, demonstrating the other firms that bid the work,  the scope (ie North allignment only, or N & S allignments) of the work, time of required completion, and the engineer's pre bid estimate of the cost of the contract, and all the final bid prices. 

Funny Ed didn't get any of that in his Freedom of Information Requests. 

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FILE FOR INJUNCTION

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 15:01.

Perhaps it would be appropriate for the Cuyahoga County Commissioners to demand that ODOT follow the state and federally legislated transportation development quidelines.   And, if ODOT fails to heed the Commisioners' reasonable and legal request, wouldn't the Commissioners have an obligation to preserve their county onstituents'  interests in  seeing that ODOT followed  the law with this enormous infrastructure expenditure in Cuyahoga County?   Such an exercise of authority by the Commissioners would strengthen their standing.  

Perhaps the Commissioners would explore this issue and decide to seek an injunction.

The commissioners are sitting I-90 bridge out - but let's try

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 21:00.

Remember back in the good old dys, when there was talk of Paul Alsenas' Southern Bridge Plan, and we had a roundtable about that, and meetings at Kent State CUDC, and then an editorial in the PD proclaimed all that over - the bridge will go north. That was that. So, unless you know something I don't that has changed, I doubt any County Commissioners have been born-again-again by the shores of Whiskey Island... but it's worth a try!

Let's organize something focused just on the commissioners - they can buy I-90 and our problems will be over. Who wants to draft a letter?