CLEVELAND — A major traffic change is coming to Cleveland.
Starting Wednesday evening, the stretch of I-490 between E. 55th Street and I-77 will close for two years.
It marks the third and final phase of the “Opportunity Corridor” project, designed to ease the flow of traffic into Cleveland Clinic and University Circle.
The new road will stretch beneath East 55th Street and include multi-use trails along the way.
It will also pass by Mike Kash’s auto shop of 43 years.
“It cleanses the neighborhood,” Kash said. “By renovating the place, making it look a little presentable, something else will come in.”
At least, that is the hope.
“Spur this east side of Cleveland back to what it used to be back in the day,” is how Ohio Department of Transportation spokeswoman Amanda McFarland described it. “This side of town just has not seen and isn’t benefiting from anything, 'cause there’s just not anything over there right now.”
The multi-year, multi-phase project comes at a total cost of $330 million--that is more than $100 million per mile.
Though IBM now has a new office there, others point to the loss of homes and businesses removed to make room.
“What we call this is ‘induced demand,’” said Chris Stocking of Clevelanders for Public Transit, “Where you widen roads or build new roads to relieve traffic. What it does, is just make it easier for people to live further away, which actually harms the tax base for Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland.”
For years, the region was referred to as the “forgotten triangle.” It appears to be getting far more attention today.