I've mentioned many times that I grew up on the west side of Lorain in the 1960s. And if my family was going to drive west of town – perhaps to Huron or Cedar Point – Dad would head north on Leavitt Road and turn left on W. 21st Street as a shortcut to access Routes 6&2. He had no reason to go all the way down to West Erie. It would just waste time.
Coming home was the same thing; he'd take the West 21st Street exit from West Erie. When Dad did have a reason to keep going east on West Erie and drive under the railroad overpass, it was interesting to me as a kid, especially at night. It was kind of like driving through a tunnel.
And my interest in the 'undercut' (as it was often called) continues to this day. Why? Because that location has a lot of history, being located so close to the Pueblo and the Lorain Country Club. Sadly, back in the interurban days, it was the scene of terrible accidents as it was difficult to navigate the 'S' curve at high speeds.
To improve safety overall, a cloverleaf traffic pattern was constructed there in the mid-1950s, with a four-lane West Erie Avenue and a westbound W. 21st Street overpass parallel to the railroad overpass.
Here's how it looks today.
But in 1953, the widening of the highway to four lanes and other improvements hadn't happened yet, as you can see in the article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on Sept. 18, 1953. The photos and captions note that the Nickel Plate Overpass is "coming apart at the seams."
Infrastructure's tough because people tend to have a "build it and forget it" sort of attitude, especially when public money's involved. I think it gets even worse when it's two forms of transportation that intersect since nobody wants to spend the dough and there's somebody else to point at.
ReplyDeleteBut, as the Talking Heads put it:
"Things fall apart. It's scientific."
I invite you to take a drive (real or virtual) along the RR right-of-way in Amherst, east on Tenney Road from South Main Street, and take a look at the retaining walls, there. Sort of scary. At least they're still vertical!
What I remember about that underpass was the "Free Jimmy Mill" graffiti that seemed to be spray painted on it throughout the 70's and 80's.
ReplyDeleteJIMMY MILL- 7/7/77.
DeleteNot to offend anybody who gets all emotional about these types of things,but don't you think it would be a good idea for our government to use the unlimited buckets of money that they are sending to Ukraine on our infrastructure instead?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's an either / or.
ReplyDeleteTighten up the way the gov't spends money and save 20 billion a month per this:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/federal-government-wastes-enough-money-half-million-houses-every-month-report
20-billion a month buys a crapload of almost anything.
The above link points at the present administration (of course) but it's only been going on, badly, since Ike left office. He warned us, y'know. Over and over.
All youse who point fingers at one administration or another are doing just what the rich politicians want - fighting amongst the peons, while the rich keep getting richer and taking what they want
ReplyDeleteThanks for the continued interesting entries, Dan!
Theresa
A certain writer who wrote a book about the Lake Shore Electric many years ago (and made many errors in the process) claimed that the damage seen on that retaining wall was the result of the fiery interurban accident that happened there in 1926. Actual photos of the accident refute this, however, showing the retaining wall completely untouched next to the debris of the accident. The author was clearly unaware that the wall was crumbling badly years before he made his claim.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the bridge and its retaining walls are not public infrastructure, they are owned by Norfolk Southern, a private company that reported a record $12.7 billion in revenue and $4.8 billion in profit, "up 8%, or $362 million, year-over-year, an annual record" in 2022. Complaining that the government isn't spending money to repair the private property of a corporation that rakes in billions in profits while deferring maintenance is a little backwards to say the least.