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A Leading Expert Shares his Vision for a Transit Friendly Northeast Ohio 15 MAY 2014 NO COMMENT This post was written by Jason Segedy, head of the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study — Akron’s metropolitan planning organization. It was originally published at his blog Notes from the Underground. Marc Lefkowitz of GreenCityBlueLake was kind enough to ask me to share my views on the future of public transit in Northeast Ohio with him. Because I think it such an important topic, I’d like to share some of the same thoughts here at Notes from the Underground. Q: Do we need a big, transformative vision for transit in Northeast Ohio, or do we manage the best we can within our current realities and chip away at needs as they arise? I think we need a little bit of both: I think we do need a big-picture vision for transit, both at the metro-by-metro (Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown) level, but also at the regional (12 county level). The key elements of the big-picture vision should involve the following: a) how can we improve cross-county express service between our core cities and our job centers – this should include express bus in the short term and commuter rail in the longer term; b) how can we improve cross-county local service for shorter trips (i.e. going from Bedford to Macedonia); c) how can we make transferring/transitioning from one RTA to the other as seamless, easy, and convenient as possible; and d) how can we improve the sharing of services (and service) between RTAs so that their county sales tax based sources of revenue are not such an impediment to providing service across county lines. http://rustwire.com/2014/05/15/a-leading-expert-shares-his-vision-for-a-transit-friendly-northeast-ohio/

It's still gorgeous, but it's just so dead in there except around lunch hour at the little ground-level food court at the Euclid end. I know we were at the Chocolate Martini a couple weeks ago, and at 6p, the most traffic in the Arcade was people going from the restaurant to the restroom. Hyatt locks the doors to non-residents after 7p.

^Thanks for the answer... the better question is: when do they plan to break ground?

^^It's awesome to see this large, 6-story apartment so quickly rising... does anybody know the timetable for the free-standing restaurants, bars and the office building?

^What Denver is doing with LRT, commuter rail, the new underground bus terminal and TOD, esp as you note near Union Station, is exciting... I hope to visit a friend there in the next few years... hopefully the airport commuter rail line will be up 'n running by then.

There's the misconception on your part, E. Rocc, TOD isn't just predicated on "demand" it comes from a concerted, community effort to develop it ... and much of this is predicated on the positive perception of rail transit. Unfortunately in Cleveland, the perception is that mass transit is for the poor and minorities -- given this, developers aren't going to build TOD... Thankfully that's changing, esp with enlightened pioneers like MRN, Ltd which is developing/has developed high-density mixed-use projects adjacent or near to Red Line stations... Now other developers are getting into the act, such as the announcement of possibly hundreds of new apt units going in to Little Italy near the soon-relocated Red Line stop... ... So if the OC is to develop high density development, it should be tied to transit.

Doh! :-o... as they say, reading is fundamental... Surprising though, that ODOT/RTA could justify 2 handicapped elevators at a lighter-used station like Quincy/E. 105 but none at a somewhat lighter station like E. 79 which threatens to close that station, leaving residents w/o downtown bus or rail service... hmmm.

^I'm glad to see AAO persuaded ODOT to mostly fund extending the E. 105 platform. But $3.2M seems quite expensive for this. I'll bet I could make a few calls and get a credible construction company to extend this platform for $50K or less ... in wood. I'm sure a wooden platform with the ADA-required rubberized tactile yellow edges, I'll bet, could be done for this price. Wooden platforms can be just as sturdy and are probably easier to maintain than concrete. Personally, I like the slight give wood has under my feet as opposed to concrete. Chicago has mostly wooden platforms on the L no doubt because they are considerably lighter weight than concrete... and E. 105 is a lower patronage station, anyway, with the existing 1-car platform area already done in concrete... So why not just extend it in wood, save the cash and have an equally effective, cheaper to build and maintain extended platform? ... I'm just sayin'...

Well now that the roadway is soon to be a reality, let's hold our public officials to the stated commercial and residential growth the OC is supposed to create. I would like to push ODOT further in getting the E. 79th station relocated to E. 89th Buckeye-Woodland and not simply closed. Let's see if transit and this roadway can work in tandem. I have my doubts, but let's push these OC-gaga public officials once it's built.

^^Just Googled ABC as well as checked their website, below listed, and there's no indication they're closing. Let's hope this is just a false rumor. http://www.abcthetavern.com/contact.html

I was there Wednesday evening, and it was crowded with students at around 5:30p. I've been through/past there at late hours and it seems to have a strong pulse. It would really be too bad if ABC is indeed closing because it seems to provide more of a visual impact than most of the new establishments there.

Punch, you hit upon an important point: in Cleveland, until very recently with the examples you cited (FEB, Uptown and E. 4th), we've never seriously given TOD a chance... at least, not since Shaker Sq., Terminal Tower (Tower City) were built by the Vans (in 1929 and 1930, respectively), or the few clusters of apartments along Van Aken in the 1930s through 1950s (when the Farnsleigh/Lynnfield apts were built). We've had this presumption, at least along the Red Line, that apts or mixed-use development won't develop near freight rail lines... And yet, one can witness a slew of long, rumbling freight trains pass over Euclid at E. 120th where spanking new high-end townhouses on both sides come within 50-60 feet of the rail tracks. Obviously, our thinking has changed for the better of late on TOD ... which is all the more vexing that we take this giant leap backwards w/r to the OC? And yet, with the OC, we assumed this roadway/highway is the ONLY way to develop those struggling parcels. KJP raised the F'ed up situation nationally that it's easier to abate industrially-contaminated land with federal road construction as opposed to transit development (if I'm wrong on this, I'm sure he'll correct me). Still it seems pretty apparent that OC planners were not motivated toward really helping residents, other than rosy talk of the speculative/questionable development the OC would allegedly create. Again, this is a highway designed to speed West Siders to UC jobs and not have to “deal with” the East Side neighborhoods (or their residents) in between. Some may question whether the OC was, in part, payback to the Juvy court judges and other personnel who went kicking and screaming to the new, gigantic Juvenile Justice Center in “the hood” at E. 105/Quincy. Isn’t it interesting that the OC will pass directly past the JJC? BTW E.Rocc, RTA apparently believes if the E. 79th Red Line stop is closed, residents can walk .5 miles south to the E. 79th Blue/Green stop. I don’t think total elimination of that stop is an adequate solution. I much prefer KJP’s/AAO’s suggestion of a new Buckeye-Woodland-E. 89 station with TOD development. IIRC the EPA similarly scolded OC planners for not pursuing such TOD solutions as well.

^Impressive.

Don't forget, this project was started then shut down for the span of a year (years?) and only recently was restarted and now has kicked into high gear. Considering this, I think it's moving along pretty well. Schofield's developers may well be trying to keep up with the Jones ... as in The 9/Heinen's developers across the street who are rehabbing their corner at warp speed.

^^Red Line extension, yes, "retrofit," no... If money is being spent to extend the Red Line... really extend it -- like the 6.5 mile proposed extension to Euclid Sq with ODOT money, then I will "calm down"... but that's only speculation. As we know, even if somehow RTA and NOACA agree to HRT as the locally preferred option, there will still be many, many hurdles for it to clear... I know you're big on downsizing the Red Line to LRT -- we respectfully disagree on this. But I can't see it as a substantial improvement of mass transit. Maybe it could placate some people, but it wouldn't be any real improvement; like extending the Red Line to Euclid and serving a much wider swath of the county would be... But in the larger scheme, it remains to be seen what future will be with w/r to traffic-sprawl vs. transit/density. We KNOW we're going to get this poorly thought out road, which tips the scales to the former. But what real transit improvements are going to happen, if any? And after all this building is done, will the (Cleveland inner city) world be made better for cars or transit? In this town, the automobile is almost always the one hoisting the title belt, with mass transit left sprawled on the mat, black 'n blue... KJP reports on the RTA construction projects board that All Aboard Ohio has convinced ODOT to front the bulk of the money to (re)extend the Quincy-E.107 platform to accept more than 1 rail car. That's great, but is that real improvement? I think not because, essentially, it's returning the platform to the length it was (or near that length) prior to Quincy-E.105's rebuild and the platform shortening, done because of speculative OC construction, was a step backwards imho... Nor do I think the LRTing of HRT is a transit "improvement". That said, I'm very pleased, and surprised, that the Red Line extension study gave a tacit boost to extending the existing HRT -- I wasn't expecting this at all (and frankly, the fact the current RTA is even studying a substantial rail expansion is quite stunning to me). But if it's really all for show, and there's reason to suspect this ... if all we're really getting in this deal is a needless, expensive, sprawl-inducing roadway and nothing substantive for rail transit then, yes, I am pissed ... really pissed. And we all should be... Because whether I'm some crazed wild-eyed conspiracy theorist or not (w/r to plots to kill the Red Line), I think we can agree that it's highly likely fewer people will be riding Red Line trains as opposed to if the OC is never built. This will be even more true if RTA duplicates the Red Line with "flyer" BRT buses along the OC from the West Side ... and there's no speculation here, as Joe C himself has stated he's in favor of doing this.

^Yeah, whatever ... You sure have selective memory. Kasich was forced to put the money back into the Innerbelt project after public pressure mounted when he tried to play tricks with the approved funding. He also attempted to scuttle the Horeshoe Casino with his faux religious concerns after voters had approved it. Kasich has made no attempt to hide his contempt for NEO, because people here didn't vote for him -- he's a downstate republican. To me, his ramming this wasteful, taxpayer-funded highway through is a form of payback because it will siphon riders away from the Red Line with Joe C's plan to run parallel BRT routes along it (I actually believe it's a plan to ultimately kill the east Side Red Line -- an idea that will be confirmed if/when RTA chooses BRT as its preferred option of extending rapid transit service beyond Stokes-Windermere into Euclid). And it will, of course, provide West Side drivers an "opportunity" to zip past downtown and Midtown so they can park their cars in University Circle, go to work their, and quickly escape at quitting time. And in the meantime, this great highway will further cut up an inner city neighborhood (to be further hidden away by large sound barriers) and provide zero benefits to the few, transit-dependent residents who are left behind. ... all this suits the Kasich agenda to a T ... and I don't mean the Boston T. ... so you and right-wing buddies can party on gottaplan,. You're getting the urban highway of your (wet) dreams.

We went there for the first time last weekend. Honestly, although we always love looking at wildlife, esp fish, we were severely underwhelmed. It seemed like a cramped basement. The lighting was poor. The floor plan, confusing (even with the map). Many tanks weren't clean and a number weren't even marked. And even those that were, often had rinky-dink paper/cardboard signs designating the fish. The 2 highlights were the please-touch stingray tank -- the kids had a blast with this. And the huge shark tank with the (quite common among aquariums) walk-through portion as if you were walking in the water. Overall, though, it is way too small along with the aforementioned issues. Having been to the great ones: Baltimore's national aquarium and Chicago's Shedd, ours really pales in comparison. I actually think the small (temporary?) aquarium at the Zoo was nearly as good as Jacob's place. I'd almost rather not have one than have a 2nd rate one. As a major Great Lakes city with so much positive going on, we deserve better. Jacobs definitely needs a Phase II for this place.

^Remember, this is John Kasich's "gift" to Cleveland. Also remember this is the 3-Cs Amtrak killer... Oh yeah, according to the polls, he's a near shoe-in in November... So what does it say about us?

My sentiments exactly.

Yes RTA's service was well used and generally on time. However, the (literal) horsesh!t visible in the photo at the station/on the tracks, tended to tamp down our appetite for the delicious ribs. It was there 1p Memorial Day when arrived. Worse, it was not only still there when we left 2 hours later, the odorous pile was there the next day!... Yuck! A little maintenance RTA… maybe?

When is Red the Steakhouse opening their roof deck?

^This article lays out the alternatives very well: one of the more comprehensive, well written PD transit articles I’ve seen. Joe C says RTA will “value engineer” the proposals to attempt to curb costs of the 3 options. It’ll be interesting to see how that works… The article notes that the Red Line extension does not include property acquisition which obviously, at some point, must be factored in. As these rough numbers indicate, extending the tracks is slightly more than double the costs of the 2 BRT options ($917M vs $426M and $430M), although both BRT options extend farther northeast along Lakeshore Blvd to just inside the Lake County line at Shoregate shopping center. However, the impact of the Red Line extension will probably be many times more in terms of ridership, capacity, increased land values altering residential patterns. I would also suspect that routing feeder bus routes off Lakeshore along E. 260th and/or Babbitt Rd into the new Red Line terminal at Euclid Sq. would draw more riders to the buses than simply expanding BRT which very well may share the capacity issues of the current Health Line. These next few months should be interesting.

^Wow, I would have never guessed that building to be that old with its Victorian window and roof-line flourishes removed. Let's hope the race for modernization never returns or, at least, doesn't return anytime soon.

I agree. Given rapid transit’s huge expense – it’s usually THE most expensive public works project in the history of any city’s – it behooves Cincy, Pittsburgh (where airport improvement’s surcharge congressional amendment possibility has also been discussed for their LRT’s extension) or any similar city to exploit any viable means necessary to underwrite capital costs and get a rail line built… Airport-to-downtown rail seriously enhances a city’s convention viability. Here in Cleveland, we haven’t always taken advantage of our pioneering air/rail connection, although it is a factor convention planners seriously consider Exhibits A and B: both the Democratic and Republican site selection committees for their 2016 conventions have mentioned our airport Rapid as key. The other major advantage, of course, is that new rail almost always begets more rail. Once the CVG LRT is green lighted, the child-like “I want one too” mentality manifests in other neighborhoods and suburbs.

Impressive, I'll have to check this out the next time I'm available. Perk Park looks quite, er, perky... btw, the "Pick up Poop" sign is an instant classic.