Ohio Department of Transportation, for autos only?

Sometimes I do think that I am rather naive. There has been much in the news about ODOT's recent problems and the possibility of a how a new direction in government could force a turnaround for Ohio's transportation public image. Fine, I don't want to argue about goofy spending and fund raising tactics. I also don't want to get into any argument about what political party does what.

However, the shift (or predicted shift) in the governor's mansion seemed to be just the thing to stall the innerbelt bridge project which allows us, as a city, to sit back, breathe a bit and think about exactly what we want to accomplish here.

The whole reason I bring this up is because I was recently made aware of David Beach's exchange with ODOT about putting a bike path on the innerbelt bridge to allow easier access to the city via non-auto transportation. There are some questions and arguments poised here that we should all consider. First from the prospect of ease of access to the city if only to make it more friendly to those that actually want to get there. Secondly from a health standpoint, more people biking should lead to a healthier community (barring ingesting auto exhaust). Thirdly there is the opportunity to create a more community driven image for the city by accentuating the interaction between people on the street (pedestrians, cyclists) and the areas through which they pass.

The prospect of getting around Cleveland without a car excites me. Not only because making the city more accessible to its inhabitants increases the sense of independence and freedom, but also because it allows us this independence at a low cost that is not directly tied to "international happenings" nor to a manner of transportation that has proven itself unhealthy as a lifestyle and as a producer of pollution.

One would hope that ODOT would understand this and either plan for better pedestrian/cycling traffic routes or would attempt to make better arguments against said alternative transportation routes if only to better appear that the considerations were made.


Oh, yeah, Happy New Year. Get out and bike more.