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Plan touts Univ. Circle connector boulevard
JAY MILLER
Transportation planners studying the rebuilding of Cleveland's Innerbelt are taking a second look at a new road through the city's East Side to University Circle that could spur revitalization along a wide swath of the depressed inner city. Called the University Circle Access Boulevard by planners with the Ohio Department of Transportation, the six-lane road would connect to Interstate 490 at East 55th Street, follow railroad tracks to East 105th Street and Quincy Avenue, then would become East 105th until it reaches University Circle. An earlier plan for a freeway-style extension from I-490 into University Circle was abandoned after the city of Cleveland objected, saying the road would tear up and divide neighborhoods. The new road would use an existing railroad right-of-way for most of its length, with several street-level intersections along the way. Mayor Jane Campbell recently said she isn't opposed to the new road, which would divert some traffic from an overloaded and poorly designed Innerbelt. Discussions on rebuilding or realigning the Innerbelt have been under way for three years. ODOT has estimated the cost at $1.8 billion for work that would not begin until 2008 and might last a decade. Craig Hebebrand, ODOT's major projects administrator and Innerbelt project manager, said a road from I-490 to University Circle likely would carry 1,500 to 2,000 cars in either direction during rush hour. 'It would be well-used,' Mr. Hebebrand said. The road is included in the Innerbelt study because much of the traffic it would carry now is traveling on the Innerbelt, using the Carnegie Avenue and Chester Avenue exits. A new road that connects with the freeway south of downtown would allow traffic bound for University Circle to avoid one of the most congested stretches of roadway in the region. 'It would also open up access to the Buckeye neighborhood and Shaker Square,' Mr. Hebebrand said. He said by making freeway access to neighborhoods along the route easier, the new road would make property along the route more attractive for homebuilders and industry. 'There is a tremendous amount of land available for redevelopment and infill housing along that corridor,' he said. Mr. Hebebrand estimated the University Circle boulevard would cost between $130 million and $150 million to build. The road would parallel a rail line that now carries the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's Red Line rapid transit trains and commercial rail traffic. Mr. Hebebrand said the rail line is depressed for much of the planned route, with wide embankments on either side. 'The railroad is down in a cut, an embankment with cut slopes,' he said. 'The idea is to build a retaining wall and build a plateau at the top of that. That would get us part of the width. The other part of the width would be on the existing plateau.' Mr. Hebebrand said no decision has been made on whether the roadway would run north or south of the railroad tracks. However, he said it could be designed with separate roadways on either side of the tracks, as Shaker Boulevard straddles RTA's Green Line through Shaker Heights. Depending on the exact route, a small number of homes and commercial and industrial buildings might stand in the road's path. An ODOT memorandum estimates it might take by eminent domain 10 to 20 commercial buildings and 20 to 30 residential units, most in a single apartment building. Some of those properties already are abandoned. Community groups working in the path of the roadway have begun their own study to see how it would affect their neighborhoods. Bob Reeves, vice president and director of community planning and development at University Circle Inc., said his group is part of a coalition studying the potential impact of the new road on the East Side neighborhoods they serve. The other groups are Burten Bell Carr Development Inc., Cleveland Industrial Retention Initiative and Fairfax Renaissance Development Corp. 'We think it will benefit us,' Mr. Reeves said, because it will make getting to and from University Circle easier for West Siders. 'But my sense is it's more beneficial to groups (serving the area) from East 105th to East 55th than us,' Mr. Reeves said. Robert Bertsch, program director for the Cleveland Industrial Retention Initiative, agreed. 'I think there is a lot of underutilized brownfields in the area, and getting better access could really bring in new types of businesses' such as offices and warehouses, Mr. Bertsch said. The neighborhood study will be finished early next month. The Innerbelt study, which will identify which projects under consideration in the study area will be undertaken and the order in which they will be completed, is expected to be wrapped up by the end of the year.