On another interchange in Avon [See
Stopping sprawl here]
Westward ho! I appreciate the information that you posted regarding the potential interchange in Avon; however I would like to make a few comments. Help me to understand how Crocker Park (and other developments in Cuyahoga County) can open up and put the final nail in the coffin of Westgate and Tower City (in your own County) but Avon is causing the demise of Cleveland for wanting to receive an update to a transportation system that cannot handle the increased traffic from new housing, retail and industrial growth. (please note that this growth has already occurred and the time for speaking out against this "sprawl" has passed although I understand the growth is not over). Isn't the idea to have a regional vision and a regional focus anyway? And don't even get me started on the regional decision making. In my previous planning job I was an alternate on the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) of NOACA (and attended the meetings monthly) and I know firsthand how projects are decided (I will let you form your own opinions, please attend a meeting sometime as they are open to the public). As for the Avon project, the only members of the TAC who attended the transportation study meetings in Avon (besides NOACA and ODOT staff) were Paul Alsenas and some of his staff of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. Kudos to them for taking the time to understand the dynamics of the transportation corridor along this section of Avon, Avon Lake and Westlake. In the end they may not agree with the idea or the outcome but at least they are participating in the planning process (by the way, the last time that I checked the study is not yet complete and the best alternative may not be shown to be a new interchange but instead could be improvements to the arterial roads…). As for everyone else who has been complaining, I would like to turn the clock back over the last fifty years to hear what people had to say regarding the growth of the Cuyahoga County suburbs...was it ok then for Cleveland and the "inner-ring" suburbs to suffer? Is it not ok now because it jumps the County border? Such hypocrisy! And so you don’t think Cleveland is alone, Lorain County has its own urban cores (Elyria and Lorain) that have been hard hit by the steel, auto and other historically declining manufacturing industries. They face the same problems in trying to maintain City services and fund schools. These transportation improvements in Avon (in whatever form they take) will support existing industries in Lorain County that are facing increasing demands for just-in-time delivery and increasing competition from foreign sources. Many of these companies send hundreds of trucks a week to the Route 83, 611 and Crocker Bassett interchanges and employ residents from all over the region. Is a transportation improvement only good for the region if it is located in Cuyahoga County? Sincerely, Fed-up urban planner and lifelong resident of Lorain Countyfrom Cool Cleveland reader Karen Johnston willowjewel@hotmail.com
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