Ohio Department of Transportation

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Project History

Summary of Alternatives Under Study

Past meeting minutes and presentations 2000-2004

Cleveland Innerbelt Plan (Very large document)

Cleveland Innerbelt Plan Table of Contents and Chapter 1

Cleveland Innerbelt Plan Chapter 2

Cleveland Innerbelt Plan Chapter 3 and Appendixes A & B

The Cleveland Innerbelt Plan was promulgated on February 12, 2004 when the Cleveland Innerbelt Study Scoping Committee adopted a design concept and scope. The Innerbelt Study began in August 2000. Since January 2001, there has been extensive public involvement including 34 Scoping Committee meetings, 13 general public meetings and literally hundreds of smaller interest group meeting.

The Innerbelt Study focused on Steps One through Four of the ODOT Project Development Process (PDP – see Pages two and three). The PDP is a 14-step process by which a selected project is taken from its earliest stages where ODOT is working with stakeholders to understand problems, needs and goals (Step 1) through Step 14 which is to construct the project.

Throughout the PDP, there are five formal points of concurrence. There are hundreds more informal points of concurrence throughout the 14 steps, but the first formal point comes at the completion of Step 4, which is to establish the design concept and scope.

The Cleveland Innerbelt Plan is the most advanced of the plans, currently in Steps 5 – 8 of ODOT’s 14-step project planning process. Components of the Cleveland Innerbelt Plan include the Innerbelt Corridor, the Innerbelt Curve, the Freeway Managament System, the Quigley Road Connector and the East 55^th Street Railroad bridge.

In February of 2004, the Innerbelt Scoping Committee reached consensus on the design concept and scope of the Innerbelt project. For a cost of approximately $8 million, ODOT and the Scoping Committee navigated through the first four steps, completing these steps and meeting Concurrence Point 1 – Finalize Strategic Plan, when the 65-member Scoping Committee reached consensus. At that time, the Scoping Committee members were awarded certificates in honor of meeting their stated goal of completing Step 4 and agreeing upon a Strategic Plan.

In May of 2004, the Ohio Transportation Review Advisory Committee (TRAC) announced a funding commitment for the projects for state fiscal years 2007 – 2010. The projects funded for construction at this time included the reconstruction of the Innerbelt Curve, the East 55^th St. railroad bridge and a reconstructed W. 14^th St. interchange from I-71 and SR 176 with a connector road to Quigley Road in the Cuyahoga River Valley.

In July of 2004, the executive board of the Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency (NOACA) approved a resolution to amend their Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Plan to include the reconstruction of the Innerbelt. In August of 2004, the City of Cleveland and ODOT signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which both parties pledged to work together to ensure the reconstruction of the Innerbelt.

Throughout 2004, as these various important steps were accomplished, ODOT and our consultant team continued to work diligently by starting preliminary engineering and environmental studies for several of the components of the Plan. The team is working to identify specific alignments as well as evaluating specific interchange configurations for the corridor.

Consultants have been in the field working to determine right-of-way and utility locations and environmental scientists have initiated geotechnical and ecological studies. The team also has members who are investigating any potential impacts to cultural resources such as neighborhood features or historic buildings and how to mitigate any impacts.

The Plan is now in the PDP Process Steps Five though Eight which when completed, will result in a preferred design alternative, the environmental document and Stage One design plans. We estimate that Steps Five through Eight will take about 15 months. Steps Five though Eight consist of the following:

Step Five: Develop Conceptual Alternatives

Step Six: Assessment of Feasible Alternatives

Step Seven: Selection of the Preferred Alternative

Step Eight: Prepare Environmental Clearance and Develop Stage One Design.

A new 70-person advisory committee was convened early in 2005 to assist ODOT through the next four steps, just as the Scoping Committee guided ODOT through the first four steps. The Cleveland Urban Core Projects Advisory Committee serves as a forum for the projects resulting from the Innerbelt Plan, the Cuyahoga River Valley Intermodal Connector Study, the Lakefront Plan and the Opportunity Corridor Study. The committee provides recommendations to the transportation decision makers including ODOT, the city of Cleveland, NOACA and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Purpose and Need Summary

The purpose of the Cleveland Innerbelt Study was to develop a strategy for the intelligent renewal of the transportation infrastructure. The infrastructure (bridge decks and roadway pavements) of the Innerbelt Freeway is approaching the end of its useful life. Absent of all of the other needs of the Innerbelt Freeway, there is a need to renew the infrastructure, to replace the bridge decks and rehabilitate the roadway pavements, within the anticipated renewal period of approximately 10 years.

Ų Innerbelt Freeway Infrastructure (Bridge Decks) – The Innerbelt Freeway’s bridge decks are of similar age, construction and condition, and will all need to be replaced within the anticipated renewal period. Of particular concern with respect to the bridge decks is that 24 of the Innerbelt Freeway’s 25 bridges are concentrated within the 3-mile section of freeway that extends from the I-71 interchange with SR 176 through the I-90 interchange with I-77 (Central Interchange). This includes the 5,079-foot-long Central Viaduct Bridge, which carries eight lanes of I-90 over the Cuyahoga River Valley

Ų Innerbelt Freeway Infrastructure (Roadway Pavements) – The Innerbelt Freeway’s roadway pavements are of similar age, construction and condition, and will all need to be rehabilitated within the anticipated renewal period. Developing a strategy for the intelligent renewal of the transportation infrastructure requires more than an analysis of the physical condition of the bridge decks and roadway pavements. It requires an understanding of the functions that the Innerbelt Freeway serves and its relationship to the Innerbelt Corridor.

Ų Innerbelt Freeway Function – Access to and mobility through downtown Cleveland depends on the Innerbelt Freeway’s ability to collect and distribute traffic between the radial freeway system and the local street system, as well as the Innerbelt Freeway’s ability to interchange traffic between the radial freeways without using the local street system. The Innerbelt Corridor is comprised of the Innerbelt Freeway, together with portions of the radial freeways and portions of the local street system. The limits of the Innerbelt Corridor recognize the interrelationship between each of the components (Innerbelt Freeway, radial freeways, local streets). Developing a strategy for the intelligent renewal of the transportation infrastructure also requires an analysis of how well the Innerbelt Freeway performs these functions, keeping in mind that the operational performance of the Innerbelt Freeway is affected by the operational performance of the radial freeways and the local street system. In turn, the operational performance of the Innerbelt Freeway affects the operational performance of the radial freeways and the local street system.

Ų Innerbelt Freeway Operational Performance – During the AM and PM peak periods, the travel demand exceeds the capacity on portions of the Innerbelt Freeway. This results in a reduction in running speed, the queuing of traffic on the mainline of the freeway and the diversion of traffic from the freeway to the local street system

Ų Innerbelt Freeway Safety – Portions of the Innerbelt Freeway experience crash at rates that exceed the average rate (1.2 crashes per million vehicle miles traveled) for other urban freeways within the region. Crash rates on the Innerbelt Freeway are generally two to three times greater than the regional average for interstate highways.

The term intelligent renewal refers not only to the restoration of the structural integrity of the bridge decks and roadway pavements, but also to the improvement of the safety and operational performance. The term intelligent renewal also reflects the recognition that while the function of the Innerbelt Freeway is to move traffic; the purpose of the Innerbelt Freeway is to serve the community. Thus, it is important to understand that the public expects the Innerbelt Freeway to support community goals, enhance the aesthetics of the built environment, and reflect high standards of environmental responsibility.

Finally, developing a strategy for the intelligent renewal of the transportation infrastructure requires an understanding of the tremendous challenges associated with the renewal of urban interstate freeways. It requires recognition of the importance of the Innerbelt Freeway’s role in providing for the safe and efficient movement of people, goods and materials to, from and through downtown Cleveland. It requires the development of a strategy that will:

• Maximize the service life of the facility

• Minimize the disruption caused by construction activities

• Minimize the frequency and scale of future maintenance activities.

Therefore, the Ohio Department of Transportation undertook the Cleveland Innerbelt Study to develop a strategy for the intelligent renewal of the transportation infrastructure.

Specifically, the final product of the Cleveland Innerbelt Study was a comprehensive master plan that supports community goals, while:

• Improving the physical condition of the existing Innerbelt Freeway bridge decks and roadway pavements

• Improving operational performance of the Innerbelt Freeway

• Improving the safety of the Innerbelt Freeway

• Improving the access provided by the Innerbelt Freeway.

Cleveland Urban Core Projects