CLEVELAND -- President Barack Obama's stimulus plan could hit home for northeast Ohio and its plan to fix the Innerbelt.

The massive project to rebuild the road and the troubled Innerbelt bridge may get a huge boost if the stimulus funds are approved.

For the past decade, a massive and costly plan to fix the Innerbelt has been moving forward slowly. Now, with the promise of a boost from Washington, the rebuilding of Cleveland's artery may finally get on a fast track, reported NewsChannel5's Duane Pohlman.

Frustrated by the slow pace of the project, Cleveland's labor union hung a billboard near the Innerbelt.

"We need safe roads and we need jobs and by one simple act, by one act, we can take care of both," said the union's Tony Liberator.

The real key to jump-starting the local project may be miles away in Washington, where the stimulus plan would inject new life into the plans, laid out by the Ohio Department of Transportation's Innerbelt project manager, Craig Hebebrand.

The $1.5 billion Innerbelt project has slowed in part because of the hitch of the troubled Innerbelt Bridge.

Plans already call for building a new westbound bridge and keeping the old one, but the prospect of a stimulus may mean two new bridges.

"It gives us the opportunity to replace the existing bridge, rather than rehabilitate it," said Hebebrand.

That means the project could become a reality soon, which is good because everyone from the unions to ODOT agree that it should.

The project has not stalled completely. Buildings, such as the old Independent Towel in downtown Cleveland, have already been demolished.

Others, such as the Cold Storage building, are supposed to go.