Here's one of those scuttled projects, which was the subject of a study in 1965. It was an expressway designed to connect Lorain's port area with the area to the south. An article in the June 22, 1965 Journal stated that the planned highway would start on Route 57 north of Vincent and then extend north and west, crossing Pearl Avenue and then following the B & O railroad tracks north.
The map accompanying the article is shown at left.
The article noted, "A small section of U. S. Steel Lorain Works would be spanned after the highway crossed E. 28th Street from Fulton Avenue. The study called for the road to link up with the W. 21st Street bridge and then up Henderson Drive in the city.
"In actuality, the plan, proposed in May, 1956, was estimated to be an $8 million arterial project. This included an elevated freeway through the heart of Lorain's industrial area which would provide a direct connection from Erie Avenue to the Ohio Turnpike."
I don't know why the project was never built, but it's a shame. More than 50 years after the 1965 article, Lorain's industrial base is gone and tourism is the city's only hope for the future. Providing a way for tourists approaching from the south to access the lakefront quickly via an elevated highway made sense then – and now.
