This better be good. The southern alignment concept is all but scrapped. ODOT’s whittled its bridge architecture design plans from 11 to 3 for the infamous Innerbelt Bridge that spans the Cuyahoga River. Two designs are cable-stay. One design consists of a steel arch.

That’s right, there are now three design teams in the world that make the grade. Three visionary agencies uniquely qualified to drive the future of highway experience for Northeast Ohio, for generations to come.

By design, this says if the “Signature” Innerbelt Bridge is anything less than God’s Gift to Engineering, Breakthrough Function, and a Design First… it will mean nothing more than the band on the deck of the T-boat.

Ah, the Big T… Titanic, Dream Queen of the Atlantic. Remember? It was supposedly the design and engineering feat of the all time. We know how that box office smash framed the future.

Now, don’t peg me a pessimist. I’m just speculating, merely a skeptic with sights on Design History. ODOT has made history here. They’ve made a career of carving up the neighborhoods, tangling up the traffic flow, and sticking it to the residents of Northeast Ohio, through inhuman road design. Look at Tremont, Ohio City, Old Brooklyn, and Midtown. Is it any wonder we build silos of our organizations, CDC’s run rampant, and Balkan castles mark the landscape of our local economy…maybe so we can see over the bloody road!?

Here goes ODOT, playing Good Samaritan. Throwing billions into a hole it braved — Cleveland’s geographic bowl. For fifty years they’ve literally been filling it in with concrete spaghetti. I don’t know about you, but I’m full. If this little bridge will still careen from a +2 to -1 into “The Trench”, it just well better mean something. They better be able to sell tickets online for this thing.

Recap: ODOT’s done wrong by design for Greater Cleveland. And we’ve been willing participants. You don’t agree? Take a look from Google earth. Look at the road system, if that’s what you want to call it. Now, they’ve had the means to do right, so we can’t push all the voodoo on our friends in Columbus. Our local political dynamite surely cleared the way. One could argue, our politicians have demonstrated a knack for bulldozing good design, with passion.

Make no mistake, ODOT is more focused on throughput than experience. They simply want to push more cars through Cleveland, and reduce the number of accidents. Good idea. And while we’re at it, we’ll close a few critical arteries, you know, streamline. Try that on your 200-year-old heart and see how you feel on your morning walk o’er the marginal road.

According to ODOT, the people have spoken. We pray for a “Signature Bridge,” as long as it doesn’t interfere with our house of prayer. But shouldn’t it be more than just some pretty structure to gawk at on our way out of town? I say, unless there’s vertical windpower lining the wings, making power for intelligent lighting, filtering the water below… unless we’re talking blue sky, real drama, scenic outlooks, video sculpture, interaction with the public on foot… well, then why would we sign on the DOTted line?