Cleveland’s “Golden Gate” Bridge
The debate rages on about the innerbelt bridge. Will it be a signature bridge or will it be a mundane structure not worthy of its location? And what is this “trenching” and why does it benefit the city and surrounding areas? Cool Cleveland challenges us to “put up or shut up” at the Midtown public meeting on the ODOT innerbelt project to be held on Tuesday February 21 at 9 a.m. in the morning. The meeting will be held at Myers University Club at 3813 Euclid Avenue. If you can’t be at this critical meeting please visit Cool Cleveland and send emails to Gordon Proctor of ODOT and copy Cool Cleveland. Cool Cleveland suggests that a strong turnout is absolutely necessary to get the point across to ODOT. I would suggest that the meeting time will hinder a large turnout since many of the people who are rightfully concerned–Midtown businessmen and women, employees of those businesses, and residents of nearby affected neighborhoods will be working at that hour. I have received ODOT publications concerning this project since I attended the first of a series of public scoping meeting held at MetroHealth on a Saturday many years ago. As I recall, the subsequent “public” meetings were held with a reception starting at 4:30 or 5:30 p.m. with the meeting held after those open receptions. I wonder just how “public” a meeting held at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday will be. I am sure that the usual government employees will be in attendance not because they have a stake in what happens but because their jobs depend on their attendance. Tim and I can work around this kind of scheduling on the part of our “government”, and therefore, we intend to attend the meeting. Believe me, if there is not a strong presence of the community there I will be questioning the timing of the event. So if you can attend PLEASE PLEASE COME and if you can’t please do what Thomas and his staff suggest write an email to Gordon Proctor copying Cool Cleveland. I am hoping that someone from Cool Cleveland makes sure that all of your emails arrive at Myers University at 9 am next Tuesday because I doubt that Gordon Proctor will have the time available to read them all beforehand. Pages and pages of emails can serve as a “strong” community presence. If I sound a bit cynical today, I am. Too much has happened in the political world in the past few weeks for me not to feel that way.
Any of you who have travelled through major cities in our country know that creating superhighways through the centers of those cities have done more to destroy them than to help them. We must stand up for our city and make sure that not only do we get a “signature” bridge, but that the effects of the “trenching” and cutting off of exits are minimal. How do we get people to venture into the heart of the city if they can zoom through without ever touching down?
For some reason, I can’t get to Cool Cleveland to link to the site. I will try later. The website is www.coolcleveland.com. I want to post this so I can get on with my day.