Another roadgeek meeting has come and gone, and another awesome time
was had by all. First of all, thanks to Jeff Kitsko for organizing
the Cleveland Meeting that took place yesterday afternoon.
Following are the details. The starting/ending point for the route
is Toledo, since that was the meeting point for the MI/NW OH
contingent.

I. ROUTE:

Toledo --> Cleveland: OH 2 EB to US 6 EB (@ Huron) to OH 61 SB to OH
2 EB to I-90 EB to US 42 NB

Cleveland --> Toledo: E 9th SB to US 422 EB/OH 8 SB to E 55th SB to
I-490 WB to I-90 WB to OH 252 NB to US 6 WB to OH 61 SB to OH 2 WB
to US 250 EB to OH 113 WB to US 20 WB to OH 51 NB.


II. NOTES:

The meeting was great. We met up with Jeff & company at the Rock
Bottom, located along the banks of the Cuyahoga in the Flats
district, between the US 6/20/42 and OH 2 bridges. The MI/NW OH
contingent included myself, Sean Lyons, Adrian Leskiw, and Brian
Reynolds. (Thanks again for the ride, Brian!) Coming in from NYS
were Doug Kerr and Mark Sinsabaugh. Also attending were Brian
Powell, who, IIRC, is a Cleveland-area-turned-Morgantown native;
Pete Jenior, who made the trek in from Cincy, and current Cleveland
area resident Marc Fannin.

The various viewpoints of, and sounds eminating from, Dead Man's
Curve (I-90 @ OH 2, Exit 174) were remarkable. If you are standing
outside in that vicinity, what you will here are the symphonic
sounds of dozens and dozens of cars flying over rumble strips, which
are placed to get drivers to slow down to the advisory speed of 35.

Much of the signage along I-90/OH 2 through the NE suburbs of
Cleveland has been replaced with newer, reflective signs, featuring
the directions with first letter larger than the rest. Even the
directional plates above the I-90 & OH 2 through there reflect this
newer trend in the Buckeye State. Oddly, at the OH 2 interchange, I-
90 is marked as I-90 EAST/I-271 SOUTH, as opposed to I-90 EAST TO I-
271 SOUTH.

The I-271 Express/Local configuration is rather cool. The median
separating opposing directions is a Jersey Barrier, but the median
between like directions on either side is grassy.

I-480's twin spans of the Cuyahoga are remarkable. We rode down to
Valley View to see the surrounding area, and it was very
impressive. It looks like I-480's overpasses are a good 100+ feel
into the air, so repainting them a couple of years ago had to be
quite a task. There were some rather high billboards alongside the
bridges for good measure, too.

On the way back, we took US 6 from Rocky River all the way along the
Lake Erie shore over, through Lorain & Vermilion before heading on
toward Sandusky. It's a 35 mph speed limit for most of that
stretch, so it is a slow go, but it is very scenic, and does at
least move. If you have some time & you're traveling that way, I'd
suggest that route.

Interestingly, the stretch of OH 2 through Erie County is now named
for what appears to be named for a former Miss America. I forgot
the name now, but I'll be heading to Cedar Point on Tuesday, so I'll
check it out then.

US 250 was widened to 5 lanes from 2 from south of OH 2 to north of
the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/90) a couple of years ago. Not much traffic
on it on a Saturday at around 6:30 PM, but I'm sure it does help
Cedar Point traffic move a little bit faster inbound in the morning
& outbound later in the evening compared to the way it was prior to
widening.

Finally, there is repaving going on along the Fremont by-pass (US 20
in particular on both sides of Fremont).

All in all, it was an awesome Saturday. The weather couldn't have
been more cooperative, either. Thanks again to Jeff for organizing
the event!

Dan