COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Transportation wants to earn millions of dollars by turning no-frills rest stops along U.S. and state routes into vibrant service plazas. But the proposed innovation is drawing opposition from powerful interests. Owners of restaurants and truck stops say their highway-dependent businesses -- and the communities around them -- will suffer if ODOT allows competitors to have prime locations. ODOT is floating the idea (pdf) to more than 30 businesses and special interests statewide, including real estate developers, lobbyists and visually impaired business owners. Leasing rest stops to developers is one way ODOT wants to raise cash and close a money gap that's delaying projects across the state, including the second Inner Belt Bridge in Cleveland. "I will say ... Continue reading →

Gateway Trail, St Paul. Image - MnDOT Another State DOT is reaching out to bicycle advocates and communities on how and where to create and connect bike routes. West Virginia DOT’s planning coordinator, Perry Keller, said “recommendations from West Virginia’s bicycling community are needed to help improve the state’s quality of life, boost tourism, encourage bicycle transportation, and improve the state’s bike-friendly image, recently rated 50th in the nation by the League of American Bicycling.” (“State seeks public help in developing bike routes,” Rick Steelhammer, Charleston Gazette) The State received a fedearl grant to plan bike routes to connect regions within the state, and connect to bike routes in neighboring states. After a round of public meetings across the state, a Bicycle Connectivity Plan Steering ... Continue reading →

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PD fileRTA spent $6.8 million on overtime in 2011, a 19 percent jump from 2010. CLEVELAND, Ohio — Overtime at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority increased by $1 million last year, driven partly by demand for service to the disabled, RTA officials say. RTA spent $6.8 million on overtime in 2011, a 19 percent jump from 2010, payroll records show. More than a third of the increase went to drivers of RTA's small, wheelchair-accessible buses, records show. They pick up and drop off a growing number of aging and disabled residents in Cuyahoga County who can no longer ride RTA's regular buses and trains. A Plain Dealer analysis of RTA's 2011 payroll also showed that workers in RTA's rail division continue to earn large ... Continue reading →

PD fileRTA spent $6.8 million on overtime in 2011, a 19 percent jump from 2010. CLEVELAND, Ohio — Overtime at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority increased by $1 million last year, driven partly by demand for service to the disabled, RTA officials say. RTA spent $6.8 million on overtime in 2011, a 19 percent jump from 2010, payroll records show. More than a third of the increase went to drivers of RTA's small, wheelchair-accessible buses, records show. They pick up and drop off a growing number of aging and disabled residents in Cuyahoga County who can no longer ride RTA's regular buses and trains. A Plain Dealer analysis of RTA's 2011 payroll also showed that workers in RTA's rail division continue to earn large ... Continue reading →

View full sizeAPThe first phase of a study of the Ohio Turnpike will look at everything from not changing its operation to leasing the toll road to a private operator. BEREA, Ohio -- A taxpayer-financed study of ways to wring big bucks out of the Ohio Turnpike has reached $3.4 million, and could go higher. After approving a $2.85 million study of the Ohio Turnpike in mid February, the state Controlling Board OK'd another $550,000 for two law firms that are part of a consulting team. Led by Texas-based KPMG Corporate Finance LLC, the team will advise the state by year's end on a range of options, including leasing the 241-mile toll road or bringing it under ODOT's control. Gov. John Kasich would like to ... Continue reading →

View full sizeMarvin Fong, Plain Dealer fileCrashes at road construction work zones resulted in about 1,300 injuries last year in Ohio, officials reported.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- High speeds and orange barrels can be a deadly mix. That point was made with 17 chest-high traffic cones, clustered Monday in a banquet room at Cleveland State University Wolstein Center. Each was tied with a black ribbon, marking the number of deaths last year at Ohio's road-construction work zones. The 17 deaths was a jump from 10 work-zone fatalities in 2010, adding urgency to the yearly appeal for drivers -- ever more distracted by technology -- to slow down and pay attention in work zones. ODOT officials, contractors, labor leaders and state representatives joined CSU's University Transportation Center on ... Continue reading →

View full sizeThis rendering shows how a two-lane bicycle path will look on Rockwell Avenue in downtown Cleveland. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A stretch of urban back road will become a green, kicky showcase for what's possible in the downtown street grid. Starting Saturday, Pop Up Rockwell will transform five blocks of Rockwell Avenue into a testing ground for two-way bicycle lanes, sidewalk benches that filter runoff and public art. It's the latest "Pop Up City" event from Kent State University's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative and a range of partners. The KSU collaborative creates temporary, startling uses of gritty landscapes to stir the sense of what's possible. One pop-up transformed a pedestrian bridge in Tremont into a cozy, star-gazing perch. Another one converted a downtown parking ... Continue reading →

Home » Urban Planning 30 Reasons Why NOACA (Cleveland’s Regional Planning Agency) Sucks 18 April 2012 No Comment #1. They are incapable of maintaining a respectable website #2. They can’t even hire a new executive director. #3. They call their bike/ped planner the “multimodal” planner because it makes them so uncomfortable to think of transportation in terms of moving people rather than vehicles. #4. Their board is controlled by exurban political officials who put the interests of their communities over the interests of the region. #5. The Avon interchange #6. Their leading employees are all white men who live in the suburbs. #7. They have no public outreach strategy other than posting unintelligible PDFs on their lousy website. #8. Jimmy Dimora was a board member ... Continue reading →

Most Americans aren't sticking with hybrids.A study released Monday by Southfield-based auto research firm Polk shows only 35 percent of hybrid vehicle owners chose to purchase a hybrid again when returning to the market in 2011.In southeast Michigan, owners are even less loyal: Just 32.2 percent of hybrid owners buy another, Polk says. That's 24th overall among metro areas.Hybrids typically cost $5,000 or $7,000 more than a traditionally powered vehicle, and the payback period can take years. The number of hybrid models offered by automakers has doubled since 2007.If repurchase behavior among owners of the high-volume Toyota Prius isn't factored in, hybrid loyalty drops below 25 percent.Hybrid owners, however, are maintaining brand loyalty when returning to the new car market, Polk says.In 2011, 60 percent ... Continue reading →

View full sizeThomas Ondrey / The Plain DealerWhile work continues on the first Inner Belt Bridge, the second span potentially faces a long delay for lack of funding, ODOT says. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The growing cost of caring for Ohio's aging highways is cutting into money for badly needed projects across the state, including the second Inner Belt Bridge, ODOT officials say. The money crunch is a big reason the highway agency last month launched a division to pursue new sources of money, including corporate sponsorships. Would you believe the Inner Belt Bridge, sponsored by Fifth Third Bank? "Those are the kind of things we're looking at, sponsorship or naming rights for unique sections of roadway," says Ohio Department of Transportation spokeseman Steve Faulkner. "It ... Continue reading →