clvlndr

^btw, I think the Green Line extension ship has sailed. Beachwood pretty much put the kibosh on that one with its city park infill. Richmond Road once had a bridge over the ROW, similar to those at Green and Warrensville, but Beachwood filled it in with an earthen embankment rather than deal with the expense of a new bridge and concomitant bridge repair costs. And now the Maltz Museum dominates the space, where as offices had once been eyed for that location at one time, so Green Line expansion probably isn't practical anymore... too bad.

^Interesting; very detailed. I agree with the Green Line expansion to I-271 then north in the median. However, I'd probably terminate it at Mayfield at the Golden Gate development. As you noted, extending all the way to the Lakefront probably isn't practical and that Red Line expansion is preferrable to the far NE corner of the County... (btw, your 28 minute travel time from TC to Green Road is somewhat conservative. Occasionally some rush hour trains may be that slow, but most can beat that time. Off peak trains can make the run in 24 mins or less, and that even includes the Shaker Square bottleneck created by the recently updated traffic control system there) ... Extending the Blue Line south and SE is still a good idea. As I've noted, though, I think extending the Blue line NW from Shaker Square (or E. 116) is problematic because of the difficult terrain -- off the Portage Escarpment down into UC, and your proposed lack of grade separation, which will lower the speed of the trains through the often heavy traffic to the extent that all but the transit dependent will use the service imho...

^On this, we agree.

^Yes, I understand this is true... The Penn Station branch has been shut down too, for both money and low ridership issues. I'm not sure what could be done for Allentown cause I've never traveled in that section of Pittsburgh, but do know that they used that section as a bypass when they closed the Mt. Washington transit tunnel for repairs. It apparently had very light traffic, which is indicative of the fact that it merges into the other lines as a single-track line just before heading into the Golden Triangle over the Panhandle Bridge.

I'm with you on that. I can't stand 24/7 Browns talk, esp when the NFL season just recently ended. The NFL is a giant hype machine. They first pumped up the draft decades ago and, more recently, they pump up the combines which, of course, lead up to the draft. And of course, we're in the midst of free agency now. The NFL, and it's media tools like the 4-letter network, Fox and others, pump the NFL hype machine constantly... It's just too bad local markets, like Cleveland, just lap it up... I mean, how pathetic is it that 92.3 and KNR have spent over a solid month merely assessing Johnny Manzeil and whether the Browns should take him ... booooooorrring! Esp. when our most promising pro team right now, the Indians, are in Spring training and the Cavs, frustrating as they've been, are making a long shot playoff chase... ... I've heard these local talkers talk Browns draft on opening day of the Indians' season just this last year; ditto, the night the Cavs opened their season. ... so when I hear this Browns b.s., my radio goes "click".

OK, maybe it's more like he likes to needle Clevelanders ... "So what do you think, Browns fan, Buckeye fan" ... etc. Hammer's not a bad guy, but I do think he likes to have fun at the expense of the more die hard Cleveland fan who, I'll admit, can be very parochial at times. I only listen to him on Saturday (I can only take so much of Tony Rizzo, so I don’t listen to Hammer during the week), but he likes to spend entire Saturday mornings taking heat from locals for goring their home sports ox. All in fun, I guess… btw, I thought Hammer had moved from Tremont and that he and his new bride were living in Shaker. He once quipped about taking the Rapid to work… Somehow, I can hardly see that but, then again…

^interesting. Are these numbers from RTA? FTA? ... I'd be curious to know.

^I always wonder why the MLK East Busway wasn't converted to rail. It originates at Penn Station, which is where the now defunct (but still extant) LRT stub/terminal exists. With the roadway, the ROW adjacent to the NS ROW is graded and ready for trains: just add tracks and wires… even the stations stairs could probably be usable by trains with some adjustments ... But critics say LRT is too expensive, citing the cost of the South Hills lines, which I've seen quoted as not being as effective as the current bus line... I will give them this: the East Busway is more of a true BRT than Cleveland's in terms of true rapid transit speed. Still, I just think it makes much more sense to convert the 9.5 miles of MLK busway into LRT, esp since the connection to the subway is right there at Penn Station -- and connected via subway, no less.

This doesn't bode well for the future of our actual (rail) rapid transit system, does it?

Correction: the article ONLY focused on the Health Line. The REAL rapid transit in this town, might was well not exist. And of course, that $5.8 billion un-truth about HL-spurred development, has been quoted so many times and not seriously challenged, it has been taken as fact (i'm stopping just short of calling it an outright lie, but...). I'm sure JoeC and the RTA gang popped the champagne cork re this article, seeing as how they dubbed BRT as the “Better Rapid Transit.” Ugh!

But Believeland, I like Baskin & Phelps because they tend to focus on ... sports, while so many hosts focus on themselves and become the show. If I want stand up, I'll tune into Fallon, Ferguson, Letterman or Maher. NOTE: Baskin and Phelps are a couple local guys who, if I'm not mistaken, met at Kent State (or if not, at least they both attended college there), so we can relate to them as fans who grew up here also… I've come to like the Bull & the Fox to a degree, at least when they can keep Adam "the Bull" under control; sometimes I think he's a frustrated Chris Berman. Sometimes the out-of-town thing is a little awkward, but if these guys embrace Cleveland (unlike Aaron Goldhammer on WKNR, who looks down his nose at Cleveland), then it does get irritating. But again, sports, esp. a local sports angle, is what I want. Ken Carmen is one of 92.3's best imho and, indeed, is very entertaining -- he mixes in both comedy and sports very well ... at least for the 1st hour or so. It seems like inevitably, however, he devolves it to the goofy stuff: women ("hot chicks" as they like to say), drinking, clubs and the like, and there's constant banter with his off-air personnel such as his engineer. That's when he loses me and when I switch. A number of 92.3 hosts do that, except B & P... Occasionally guys like Carmen will drift into an off-sports subject that interests me, like movies and some music; but usually I'm outta there when it goes too far afield of sports.

I agree with your analysis completely... You're right, it's all smiles now (at least from a national/PR perspective), but RTA, and indeed the City, are kicking the can down the road viz your points about the HL. Let's hope some plan is in the works lest HL operations get ugly in the future.

Wow, it seems like they just knocked down the County Admin building; I didn't realize they'd already cleared its rubble from the site -- and during the horrible weather we've been having, no less. These people are serious...

Biker, this is a blanket statement that simply is not true. University Circle is a large place, in and many high density employment/student areas, like the Case (or Sothern) campus of CWRU and UH, many people commute on the Red Line from downtown and (esp) the West Side. Yes, currently a lot of people do ride the HL to places on/near CWRU's north (and the old College for Women) campus ... as well as Uptown, since the current Euclid-E. 120 station is somewhat distant (to Uptown), crappy and forces passengers to walk under/through that long, dirty, dungeon-like Red Line/NS RR bridge over Euclid. But you should stroll around University Circle station (once it is finished/reopens soon) during evening rush hour. You would see a steady stream of commuters heading down the alley/pathway from just east of the Adelbert Rd. bridge into the Red Line station and onto the UC platform. And as even you have acknowledged, once the UC-Little Italy station is built, Red Line passengers will be considerably closer to Uptown and those core north-side UC institutions, such as the Art Museum, the Botanical Gardens and north-side CWRU facilities.

^Straphanger you're correct, with a few obvious exceptions, the Blue and Green lines were deliberately planned to be 1/3 mile apart with the curving side streets converging at the major intersections along Shaker and Van Aken blvds containing station stops ... I also agree, comparing those lines to the HL doesn't figure, since one is the HL is an urban line with no grade separation while, as you note, the Blue/Green lines west of Shaker Sq. are distribution lines of a grade-separated, high-speed commuter rail-type operation.

What's wrong with Baskin and Phelps? I think they have one of the best shows on 92.3.

^btw, when the wait for the HL at either end of my Tower City-to-CSU trips are too long, I've learned to hop the "E Line" trolleys to complete my journey. The trolleys are just as quick, if not quicker than HL buses, less crowded ... and more fun!

^But you are ignoring the walk and transfer (lag) time transferring from the Health Line from the Red Line (remember, he said he was a West Side Red Line rider accessing CC, UC and CWRU). Depending on the time of day or, simply bunching/non-bunching of HL buses, my time lag in just riding to CSU on the Health Line has been from 8 to 25 mins (and it was just my luck that the 25 min wait was in the winter cold last year). I acknowledged that the HL is the better choice in going to Cleveland Clinic generally since it's directly on the HL. Whether one is dropped at the "front door" or "back door" is irrelevant -- it's time taken getting from vehicle to destination is what matters. Also, you can't make a blanket statement about walk time and a person's desire to walk. People walk at different speeds and, often depending on age and ambulatory ability, some prefer a good walk - just so long as it's not in an unsafe area or ridiculously long, while others don't -- that latter group will probably drive anyway. The imperfect situation between the University Circle Red Line station and UC has existed for years and, yet, tons of West Siders commute to UC and Case via the Red Line, so your premise just doesn't hold up. Moreover, studies have shown that commuters tend to be more turned off to transit if they are forced to transfer, esp from bus to rail, to complete their trips, as opposed to experiencing a one seat ride. So again, your premise of Health Line superiority to West Siders over the straight shot via the Red Line is not valid. And, again, the soon-to-be-relocated UC/Little Italy station will make the Red Line even more attractive to UC and (some Case) commuters.

I disagree DM4. By its larger, more obtrusive (than buses) nature, a rail line would half to eliminate many of the current HL stops, preferably 1/3 in my book. Secondly, because of the fixed nature of rail tracks, there would be fewer pedestrians crossing the ROW than there are of the current HL's. Also, I would have to believe that, in accord with this, a number of cross streets would be eliminated: dead ending into Euclid whereby crossing traffic would have to travel several blocks to a main intersection to cross Euclid and the rail tracks ... ... Yeah, I know the HL to LRT conversion is a tired old argument, and not likely to happen anytime soon. But I have to believe there will come a time, esp. given the factors noted now, namely HL's at-capacity current status in light of the large swaths of underdevelopment/no development in the corridor.

For the Clinic, I would agree since the HL puts you right at the door of CC, as opposed to a several blocks walk from the Quincy-E. 105 stop and the intervening neighborhood is somewhat sketchy. However, I seriously question your statement regarding Case (the old CIT campus) as well as UH, where the current/rebuilding U.Circle station is only 3 blocks from the door... and the new, relocating Little Italy/UC/Mayfield station is only 2 blocks away from UH's core... The Little Italy station will also be closer to the old WRU/College of Women campus which includes, Weatherhead and Law School. The Red Line is a straight shot, as in no transfers, from the West Side, unlike the HL. Plus, it's MUCH faster. I timed 2 HL trips to/from Public Sq. to Uptown, at about 3-3:30p on a weekday. The trips took 26 and 31 minutes. The last time I rode the Red Line from Tower City to University Circle, it was only a 12 minute ride, including the slow, front-door-only E. 105th St. stop. So I don't see how the Health Line is faster. In fact, both the transfer and the ride itself, would actually make it quite slower.

From the CLC image, it appears 3700 Lorain will incorporate the small, empty retail block currently standing on the site into the residences... no?

Can't stand A-hole Booms, either.

Haven't heard anything since the rumor of about 2 years ago, apparently false, that the Watermark Restaurant would reopen. I can't understand why there hasn't been any news about these buildings, either, esp. since FEB Phase II is moving forward... Somebody mentioned some time ago that the Samsel Hardware building (IIRC) would be a great adaptive reuse for apartments with, perhaps, ground floor retail. My guess is we’ll hear something. FEB looks to be a hot area, once again. If anything, the high activity in/beneath the new Aloft Hotel, which is only a short strip away from the River, presages this.

Speaking of signage, RTA really needs to fix up the signage in Tower City. Once Phase II of Flats East Bank opens in 2015, a lot more people will be using the Waterfront Line, so let's hope RTA doesn't get caught with it's pants down ... again. Right now there's no signs, arrows or anything directing people to where to board Waterfront Line trains. Oftentimes people wanting to go eastbound end up on the WFL platform, so train engineers heading for the Waterfront must always ask passengers whether they're sure they want to be on the driver's train. It's even worse now that the Blue/Green line trains have eliminated directional signs in favor of the color bands... There's no Waterfront Line color... So Tower City is a mess -- direction-wise and fare-wise on the Blue/Green/WFL side, confusing to Clevelanders and visitors alike. I asked Jerry and JetDog about it some time ago, and don't recall getting any response. What say you guys?

My guess is the court could issue any number of sanctions against L&R if has not acted per the order by 3/15... then again, it's the City (through the Planning Comm.) that told L&R to "... give us a plan or an analysis stating why Herold can't feasibly be repaired." And since the court order is the result of litigation between the City and L&R about the building, it would be contradictory (and unfair) to punish L&R for not demolishing the building by the 3/15 deadline since it is the City that's restraining L&M from demolition in the first place.