Stahl told Scene last year that he was “fine-tuning” his project, a shoreline cable-car transit pipe dream that emerged a few years back as a one of several wacky hot-button Cleveland development ideas that, at least once, was alleged to be “financially viable.” Stahl told the Planning Commission Friday that he’s invested years of work and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the early conceptual work.
Despite tweaks, the Skylift remains a novelty project that would put ski-lift-style cable cars on the shores of Lake Erie. In its current conception, the route would feature nine stations stretching from Edgewater Park on the west side to the E. 9th Street pier on the east. Stahl said that he envisioned naming rights being a large part of the project’s fundraising and ballparked baseline fares at about $2.50 per ride. According to the PD’s Steve Litt, Stahl is not seeking public subsidies, though he will need “long-term leases from public entities to make the project work.”
Despite a “polite” response from the planning commission, the project has reached something of an impasse. According to the Plain Dealer’s account of the meeting, Stahl reportedly needs $700,000 for a “feasibility study” — perhaps Stahl ought to commission an additional feasibility study to determine the feasibility of the feasibility study — but can’t secure funding until he gets some form of go-ahead from the city. Mayor Frank Jackson and Planning Director Fred Collier won’t give any sort of green light until they see more details:
“The kind that would be described in Stahl’s feasibility analysis,” wrote Litt.
The response to Stahl’s project has been overwhelmingly negative, if not outright derisive. Many consider the project a stupid and inefficient fantasy. Others are concerned about its year-round appeal. For others, safety is the primary concern. (Stahl has said that the Skylift would be built for Alpine conditions, operable in winds up to 60 mph.)
But in the face of devastating budget and service cuts to RTA, it’s easy to understand why conversations about an enormously expensive, imaginary aerial tram may seem insulting or sad to those who can’t even count on frequent, safe, regular bus service.
This article appears in Apr 5-11, 2017.
I’ve seen stupidier things, but not many. Moronic.
The talking heads on the local news are all abuzz about this stupid idea, but they’re mostly idiots and airheads from elsewhere, morons who insist on constantly saying “Cuy-oga” County because they’re lazy and ignorant.
They should learn to talk instead of showing those ridiculous artist sketches and wasting airtime gushing over this pie-in-the-sky) excuse the bad pun) project. Better to use the time to talk about how many folks in Cleveland were shot and killed today.
These ugly towers look like high-voltage transmission towers or even those Martian fighting machines in “War of the Worlds”…just what a city needs to look ridiculous. As if anyone is gonna ride this contraption in the winter months, or pay money to soar over another Browns loss. This jamoke is dreaming.
Whatever he’s been smoking, it’s not the medical stuff. Pass that pipe over to me, bro.
Chuckles the Clown
How about a ferry to Canada? Granted there’s still weather concerns but turning the port into a way to get to our neighbor to the north seems like it would be an economic plus. Of course there’s still Customs and Border Patrol to think about and they are acting like idiots these days.
The video linked to “ski-lift-style cable cars” goes to the youtube music video for “Cable Car (Over My Head) by The Fray. Someone didn’t even check for the right video here…
In my opinion, if a guy wants to use private money to build a skycar around Cleveland, COOL! Go for it! I mean, as long as the City/County/State don’t need to do anything beyond saying they’re “all for development that brings people to Cleveland”, then what’s the big deal? Plan and plan until your heart’s content. Now if he’s asking for government $$$, then the conversation changes. So far I don’t think he is.
Personally, I think the thing is a possibility, but he clearly isn’t basing his ideas in any sort of reality. I mean, as soon as you see the one possible route line going directly over the Browns Stadium and ending in the Burke flight line, you should know the idea hasn’t been well thought out. And his dreams about the technology in each car….well that would be great, but just that component alone would take a monumental effort to coordinate, assuming you want to do what he’s describing and not just put an iPad in there. Oh, and this idea of $2.50 per ride? Come on, man. The London Eye is $30 or $40 and up by comparison. I’m not saying Cleveland is comparable to London, but hell, the ferris wheel at the fucking IX center is at least $5 isn’t it? If you show people a route map that looks like that , then you’re a joke. Redraw the map, get the thing away from the airport and not over the sports venues and maybe there’s something to talk seriously about. I’m not sure why I even bothered to write this much. Property rights will be the death of this thing unless he follows roadway R/W. No one is going to reasonably give up their aerial property/easement rights for this unless it’s a profit center for them as well. But keep dreaming big, bro.
Relevant to a comment above: the ferry to Canada has been studied a dozen times at least, leaving/arriving at different ports, focusing on different revenue streams (freight, vehicle ferry, entertainment, etc). Believe me, the people paying for the studies did everything they could to warp the numbers in a positive way and it STILL didn’t make sense. Not to mention NY actually built out the same service across Lake Ontario and it failed. It all boils down to cost/benefit: If you’re leaving from right in the middle of Lake Erie…lets say Cleveland….and traveling to right in the middle on the Canada side, you’ll save some time which might make the cost worth while. The problem is I’m sure Port Stanley, Ontario is a beautiful place, but lets be honest: 5 people a year want to go there or anywhere around London, ON from Greater Cleveland. The places people want to go like Toronto, Niagara….hell, even Detroit, are all faster to drive to directly than to take a boat, even if you factor in Customs (which you’d need to go through on a boat as well). If it’s faster to drive yourself, then the benefit to taking a ferry is pretty minimal and not worth the significant cost of a boat ticket (it sure as shit wouldn’t be $2.50). Unless you get a super fast boat, which you can’t because of winter ice on the lake, the ferry idea is never going to work out. Get my ass over there in less than 90 minutes, and haul some fright trucks while you’re at it, and now we have something to talk about! 🙂