Try to spot I-490. It's only 2+ miles, running west-east slightly south of downtown. It connects onto I-71 and I-90 on its western terminus, but ends abruptly at East 55th St at a grade crossing. Looking at the map, if I-490 continued eastward, it could easily connect University Circle and join I-271 to the north. That would be the ideal route for commuters coming from Beachwood, Gates Mills, or anything southeast of that, which covers notable communities like Orange, Solon, and Twinsburg. It's quite a portion of the Great Cleveland commuters. Alas, no such highway system exists. However, the idea of it has floated around before.
In fact, in the early 1960s, there was a proposal to construct the Clark Freeway that runs east-west through Shaker Heights and connect onto I-271. However immediately, criticism came in about the elimination of homes and commercial properties that would result. In fact, this reaction was hardly confined to Cleveland. During the 60s and 70s, freeway and expressway revolts spread throughout the nation, as potentially affected neighborhoods voiced their concern of disruption. The unpopularity eventually resulted in the scrap of the proposed Clark Freeway. Instead, the Clark Freeway (I-490) merely stretched for 2+ miles it encompasses today.
Recently there has been rejuvenated efforts to stretch I-490 at its eastern terminus to University Circle, denoted the Opportunity Corridor. While there would be no eastern connection to I-271 and thus would not be the panacea for southeastern commuters, it would bring some relief to all. However, there first is the budget issue. With ODOT putting numerous projects on hold, the fiscal responsibility of the $200+ million project demands an answer. Furthermore, locals living in the path of the route would still be displaced. The area between University Circle and I-490 terminus is quite an economically lackluster region, and leaders hope that an infrastructure upgrade would also stir commerce in the region.
If Great Cleveland can learn something about infrastructure renovation, the recently completed Euclid Corridor has been quite a success. The $200 million development of rapid-bus route and transformation of Euclid Avenue, connecting Downtown Cleveland and East Cleveland while passing University Circle and Cleveland Clinic, has attributed to several billion dollars of new development. One can only hope that the Opportunity Corridor would one day bring similar results. University Circle would also be more easily accessible from highway, the airport, and commuters. Yet despite such, for the commuters coming from the southeastern direction, it doesn't look like they'll get their wish of connection from I-271. Those disgruntled can attribute the demise of a direct connection route to the nationwide phenomenon of freeway protests that rocked the country in the 1960s. That affected area is still heavily populated, and unlike the area affected by Opportunity Corridor that could benefit from revitalization,would likely still face great friction in pushing through any idea of freeway.
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