Today, the Group Plan Commission released three design concepts for the pedestrian bridge that will connect downtown (Lakeside Avenue) to North Coast Harbor (Rock Hall, etc.). Public officials are hoping to gather public reaction to the designs, because, like everything in Cleveland these days, this thing has to be built in time for the Republican National Convention.
County residents can choose from a suspension bridge, a double-arch bridge or a cable-stayed bridge, each designed by Boston architect Miguel Rosales. The suspension and cable bridges are kinda similar, with those features standing tall over the winding bridge. The arches would add a more classic sense of flair to the Shoreway. Your call, taxpayers. (Next week’s Public Works committee meeting at Cuyahoga County HQ will be focused on these designs. 6 p.m. Nov. 13.)
This bridge is a $25-million project funded by the city, the county and the state.
You can cycle through the design details in the Group Plan Commission’s presentation. We’ve added several lo-fi .jpgs here to give you a sense of what these designs entail. And can we get someone to Photoshop in the death eaters from the sixth Harry Potter movie?
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2014.
Cable bridge
I don’t love any of these. How about we hire an Ohio firm?
arch bridge
if its funded buy the city,county and state why are we not giving a local firm the job?
Any bridge should be built from recycled beer cans found in the area after Browns’ games.
ARCH! Go for the arch! The arch is far more symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing AND think of how much easier it would be for tourists to find buildings in relation to the big arch structure!
I select option D, none of the above. All these designs suck, and the first two look like they were drawn and designed by people that have never seen a bridge before. Oh, and the third design looks like it was designed by someone that really, really, really likes butts.
AN UNNECESSARY BRIDGE PROJECT!
The proposed $25 million Lakefront Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge is a taxpayer-funded project: $10 million each from the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, and the balance of $5 million from the State of Ohio.
Public projects should be justified based on needs. So far, no justification has been provided — because none exists. Justification would have included a traffic study that would have shown that the existing bridges (East 9th and West 3rd) cannot handle the volume of pedestrians and bicyclists in the area and thus a new bridge was needed.
I am a retired structural engineer and a senior citizen. I don’t have a car, don’t know how to drive, and walk for miles on end. I have walked a few times from our house on the West Side to downtown – a distance of 9-miles. Cleveland is a very walkable city.
Every time I visit our malls – I find them virtually desolate of the 13,000 or so residents who live downtown. I hardly see any bicyclists or pedestrians in the mall areas. We have all these green spaces and they don’t appear to be used by the residents (I am all for green spaces – the more the better). However, there is a lot of pedestrian traffic on East 9th Street — going towards the North Coast Harbor and coming back.
I voiced my concerns on the absence of a traffic study at the 11-13-14 Public Meeting organized by Cuyahoga County’s Department of Public Works. I also voiced my concern on the Sound of Ideas Weekly Regional Round-up radio program of Friday, 11-14-14.
Norman Krumholz (former member, Cleveland City Planning Commission, and former Prof. in the Levin College of Urban Affairs) raised a similar concern regarding the absence of a justification for the project in a Letter to the Editor of The Plain Dealer, dated Sept. 12, 2014.
We should not build ”signature” bridges – we should build bridges based on need – and the “signature” quality – whatever that means – evolves from the design process – rather than superimposed as a pre-condition. Our Veterans Memorial Bridge is a beautiful bridge and uses a 2,000-year old structural form (the arch). I have walked over the bridge multiple times and every time I am dazzled by the graceful form and the intricate details (each a work of art). A beautiful bridge does not need non-functional curves and contortions in the structure to spark the soul.
Most non-structural engineers are not aware that the concepts of the suspension bridge and the cable-stayed bridge (both inter-related structural forms) are much older – having evolved from the spider’s web.
At the Public Meeting of 11-13-14, Joseph Giuliano, President of the Downtown Cleveland Residents Association, complained that his organization was never contacted for input on the bridge design. However, Mr. Giuliano believes the bridge will not only provide access to the lake but also activate (the now desolate) green spaces. In addition, according to City Hall, this project and similar projects like the proposed $32 million radical makeover of Public Square (close Ontario Street & narrow Superior Avenue), will bring an economic boom to Cleveland that will provide “lasting benefits for both today’s Clevelanders and future generations.” With billions spent, downtown with 3% of the population is prospering. Unfortunately, this prosperity is not trickling down to the remaining 97% of Clevelanders.
Cleveland, with a 37% poverty rate, does not need to waste $25 million on an unnecessary “signature” bridge – a superficial symbol – to impress any one – when we already have two functional crossings (East 9th and West 3rd). People would go to jail if they embezzled $25 million. We can always build a new bridge when we need one. We have great people and a beautiful walkable city as is – that is more than enough to show the world, and our Republican friends, in 2016.