Cleveland Infrastructure
Cleveland, state, JobsOhio reach deal that clears way for Opportunity Corridor
Updated February 25, 2017
Posted February 24, 2017
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Agreement clears way for Opportunity Corridor to proceed
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Construction is cleared to resume on the Opportunity Corridor project as a result of an agreement that Mayor Frank Jackson said his administration negotiated to ensure that the $331 million “boulevard” connecting downtown with the University Circle neighborhood benefits the city and its residents.
Jackson told cleveland.com Friday that the Ohio Department of Transportation and JobsOhio, the state’s privatized non-profit development corporation, have now agreed to his demands that city residents get a fair share of the work and that the state pay for installation of utilities and for some cleanup of contaminated land along the route.
As a result, Jackson and two of his top administrators said they have signed off on a permit the contractor needs to resume work on the second phase of the project, which runs from East 105th Street at Quincy Avenue to East 93rd Street.
Cleveland.com contacted ODOT and JobsOhio.
David Mustine, a senior adviser for JobsOhio, noted that an agreement would need to be approved by JobsOhio’s board of directors.
“JobsOhio is working closely with the city of Cleveland on revitalization efforts along the Opportunity Corridor, which we believe will help attract more jobs and investment to Northeast Ohio,” he said.
ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning responded that “As we finish Section I we look forward to a robust construction season on Section II.”
— By Robert Higgs, cleveland.com
Special to The Plain Dealer
The mayor’s goals
Jackson said Friday that he never was a fan of any proposals to build the roadway through the East Side neighborhoods.
To gain his support, he said, the project needed to meet his goals that Cleveland residents benefit from the construction work, that the project include utility upgrades for economic growth in the neighborhoods and that polluted and that abandoned industrial property be cleaned up.
Without commitments from the state, Jackson said, “I wasn’t going to do it.
“They’ve agreed.”
Jackson’s chief of staff, Ken Silliman, and his chief of regional development, Ed Rybka, discussed that agreement Friday with cleveland.com.
David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com
Linking up neighborhoods
Variations of this project have been discussed for years, sometimes as freeways that would link to eastern suburbs or with Interstate 90.
In 2015, Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced that money leveraged from Ohio Turnpike tolls would be used to fund a project that will link Interstate 490 from its terminus at East 55th Street with University Circle, via East 105th Street. The $331 million project is funded through the Ohio Department of Transportation, with contributions from JobsOhio and the city.
The first phase, rebuilding East 105th Street from Chester Avenue south to Quincy Avenue, is essentially complete. A second phase would extend to East 93rd Street. The third section would extend from East 93rd Street West to East 55th Street and is scheduled for completion in late 2019.
The 35 mph, 3.5-mile-long boulevard is intended to improve land values and spur development in the “Forgotten Triangle,” a section of the city that includes portions of Wards 4, 5 and 6.
Special to The Plain Dealer
A cautious approach
Jackson was wary of the project. His fear was that if not done right, the roadway would be a “pass through” for motorists, allowing them to reach University Circle from Interstate 77 more quickly, but offer no benefits to the people living in the neighborhoods in between.
To combat that, Jackson insisted the roadway be a boulevard with cross streets and traffic lights, as opposed to an extension of the limited-access highway between I-77 and East 55th Street.
The illustration here shows I-490 separating into the boulevard as it passes under East 55th.
Special to The Plain Dealer
Cleaning up the property
The city also negotiated to get state funding to identify and clean up environmental hazards in old industrial brownfields so that property along the boulevard would be better suited to development.
And the Jackson administration said the state agreed to implement job-participation requirements from Cleveland’s Fannie Lewis Law, which requires at least 20 percent of construction hours be performed by Cleveland residents. Contractors also must pledge to make their best efforts to give at least 4 percent of that work to residents considered to be low-income.
Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer
Clash threatens project
Jackson said the new agreement, the result of months of negotiations between his top administrators and the state, allowed him to again support the project.
But in April 2016, the city announced it would withhold $3.1 million in funding it pledged toward improving utilities in Phases II and III in a dispute with the state over funding and jobs for residents. The city also held up approval on permits needed for construction work to proceed.
The city argued that the state was reneging on a promise to provide $10 million to clean polluted land around the boulevard right-of-way at East 79th Street to help prepare it for redevelopment. It also complained that ODOT had rolled back its commitments on participation by city residents and minority workers.
University Circle Inc.
Ohio responds
The state told the Jackson administration that while work was held up, the general contractor on the project was charging $5,000 a day.
“I told them ‘That’s your problem, not mine,’ ” Jackson said Friday. The city said then that it would not allow work to proceed until the state and JobsOhio pledged in writing to meet obligations that, in Jackson’s view, they had agreed to at the beginning of the project.
The state didn’t include the hiring quotas in its specifications for bids on Phase II, but in negotiations with the low bidders did get agreement on good hiring percentages for minorities and disadvantaged, the city acknowledged.
The state also committed $500,000 to train unemployed residents affected by the road construction for other kinds of work. That program, coordinated by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County office of Ohio Means Jobs, has placed well over 300 people in general labor, manufacturing and health care jobs.
Robert Higgs, cleveland.com
Legislative complication
At the same time, lawmakers in the statehouse were moving to counter local ordinances like Cleveland’s Fannie Lewis Law.
In May, they passed HB 180, which was signed by Gov. John Kasich. It barred cities from establishing local hiring regulations in contracts for public improvements such as those in Cleveland’s law.
Rich Exner, cleveland.com
Courtroom victory for Cleveland
Cleveland sued the state in August 2016 over HB 180, arguing that its provisions violated the Ohio Constitution’s guarantee of home-rule power for cities.
A Cuyahoga County judge blocked the law from taking effect. Then, in January, Judge Michael Russo ruled that the state overstepped its constitutional authority with the law and permanently blocked it.
The state has appealed that ruling, but a final resolution of the case will take months, if not years.
Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer
Negotiating an agreement
While all this was going on, officials from Cleveland, Gov. John Kasich’s administration and ODOT and JobsOhio met to try to resolve differences.
At a meeting last December in a conference room in Cleveland City Hall, they worked out some clarity and understanding, Rybka said.
That led to agreements that prompted city officials to say Friday they were ready to issue permits needed for Phases II and III to proceed.
Special to The Plain Dealer
What was decided
As part of the agreement, Ohio will commit about $6.5 million toward upgrading utilities – sewers, water and wifi – along the roadway. The city will kick in the $3.1 million it previously withheld.
That is important because development along the corridor could mean a much higher demand for utilities such as sewer services.
JobsOhio has committed up to $10 million toward cleaning up brownfields and later working with interested developers on projects along the corridor.
Special to The Plain Dealer
Gauging the project’s success
Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland, whose Ward 5 includes much of the corridor’s route, says the success of the project ultimately will be told by how much benefit there is in the neighborhoods.
If it doesn’t spark growth, the road just becomes the pass-through that Jackson opposed.
“Part of what they sold supporters and community on is it’s not just a road. This road will open up land for development and job opportunities and it’s going to be a win for the neighborhoods as well,” Cleveland said. “My hope is that, now that things are resuming , that we’ll see a greater commitment from the state in terms of helping us achieve our goals, making this not just a roadway project, but neighborhood enhancement.”
City of Cleveland