KJP

Thanks Sherrod!

Low-level platforms will remain but all of them will be equipped with "mini-highs" -- i.e. ADA ramps up to the rail car's floor level. I briefly mentioned it in this article.... https://neo-trans.blog/2023/05/01/208m-shaker-rapid-rebuild-down-the-line/

I think that was me. But I was referring to 2169 Columbus. They filed this in March and I was considering it for a Seeds & Sprouts piece, but the owner never got back to me... Record B23005947: Com Building Permit Work Location 2169 Columbus RD Cleveland OH 44113 Record Details Project Description: Tremont Restaurant Existing 1 1/2 story residential single-family home to be converted into a restaurant space. New 550 square foot addition on rear of building w/covered rear dining patio. Owner: Eric Kennedy 2169 COLUMBUS RD CLEVELAND OH 44113 Design Professional information Justin Davies Anthony PAskevich & Associates 1708 Euclid Ave. CLEVELAND, OH, 44115 United States Contact Phone 216-696-0916 E-mail: [email protected] Responsible Party information Justin Davies Anthony PAskevich & Associates 1708 Euclid Ave. CLEVELAND, OH, 44115 Job Value($): $400,000.00 Number of Buildings: 1 BUILDING CODEWork Area:1902No. of Stories/Units:1Bldg Footprint (SqFt):1902Sprinklers:YesFire Alarm:NoAllowable Load Per Sq. Ft. Per Floor:100Occupant Load Per Floor:77KSQFT:2KFPSQFT:2Riser Demand:NASprinkler:NFPA 13Hazard Classification:2 Collapse Parcel Information Parcel Number: 00403009 Ward: 3

Thank you Mister Glass

Not sure but I would guess they could. For the rail cars, GCRTA is using a large chunk of its four-year urban formula federal apportionment from the current and following four-year periods. The following is considered committed but not awarded. The "committed" number for the next four years is a guess. No one knows what Congress is going to do with the next six-year surface transportation reauthorization. Also a portion of the next four-year urban formula apportionment is from the current six-year surface transportation authorization. So that part is certainly committed but not awarded. Until it is, GCRTA cannot award a bid for the remainder of the rail car order. BTW, GCRTA is very fortunate to be pursuing the new railcars now. Its urban formula federal apportionment more than doubled under the current six-year surface transportation authorization (from about $28 million per year to more than $66 million per year). And Senator Brown's creation of this new rail car replacement fund at the FTA is a huge deal. Without these, I don't know if Cleveland would still have a rail system after 2030.

Planning Commission tabled it because the plan is so different yet the applicant was seeking final approval. The neighborhood-level design-review committee had some design change suggestions and concerns (including the exterior materials looked cheaper). The city also had approved rezoning and variances that were tied to the previous plan so the applicant will also have to resubmit for that. This could create a problem as City Council wants to update its zoning code before it leaves for summer break, and projects approved under old zoning would be grandfathered in. So the desire is to approve this project before council updates the zoning.

GCRTA wins $130m for new trains By Ken Prendergast / May 5, 2023 In 2021, as chair of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over public transportation, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) championed the creation of a new federal program to fund the replacement of aging rail transit cars. Today, he shared the news that the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) was awarded $130 million from this program to narrow a funding gap in its $393 million effort to replace its four-decade-old rail car fleet. The award represents the largest single grant to the GCRTA in its 48-year history. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/05/05/gcrta-wins-130m-for-new-trains/

BREAKING: The April Jobs Report is out! - The Unemployment rate is at 3.4% - The Unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years - The Unemployment rate under Trump never reached this level. - The Black Unemployment rate is 4.7% - The Black Unemployment rate is the lowest ever - 253,000 Jobs were added last month. The US economy is one of the strongest on the planet. Yes, inflation is still high. Yes, some people are still struggling. Yes, oil prices are too high. Yes, our national debt is an embarrassment. But overall we are doing pretty darn well compared to others.

Unless millions of people flee from climate-ravaged areas to Cleveland, I doubt you'll ever see a subway built in Cleveland.

I found out what it is. You two gentlemen are correct. The dollar amount is historic for GCRTA. But I cannot report it yet or I will make a certain senator angry.

Has to be a pretty big announcement if the FTA administrator is going to be there.... For Immediate Release May 4, 2023 Senator Sherrod Brown & FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez to Make a Special Announcement at GCRTA’s Rail Equipment Building During Visit to Cleveland Cleveland OH – On Friday, May 5, 2023, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, will join U.S. Congresswoman Shontel Brown, Federal Transit Administrator, Nuria Fernandez, and local leaders to tour the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) Rail Equipment Building, and make a special announcement about transforming our rail services. “Media representatives are welcome to take part in the tour and join the audience to hear the speakers’ remarks regarding the special announcement,” said India L. Birdsong Terry, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Those speaking at the event include: • U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) • Nuria Fernandez, Federal Transit Agency Administrator • U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH-11) • India L. Birdsong Terry, General Manager and CEO, GCRTA • GCRTA Employees The tour begins at 10:45 a.m., followed by speakers at 11:00 a.m. GCRTA’s Rail Equipment Building is located at 6200 Grand Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44104. GCRTA staff will be on-site directing visitors to the rail complex. ABOUT RTA: GCRTA was formed in 1975 with the mission of providing public transit services to the 59 communities and 1.2 million residents of Cuyahoga County. As the largest public transit agency in the State of Ohio, GCRTA’s service options include bus, BRT, trolley, paratransit and three rail lines. GCRTA makes connections that empower individuals, neighborhoods, and communities to rise. # # # #

They did. Thankfully, we don't have long dark winters anymore.

Let's take a look around and see how our neighbors are doing....

Every Lincoln Service train is arriving at every station 5-15 minutes early! 😁 This is why...

I blame sprawl, the most anti-social disorder ever invented

Stokes West redesigned By Ken Prendergast / May 3, 2023 It seems every real estate developer is having similar problems — supply constraints, rising construction materials costs and rising interest rates. Only those projects that are charging top-of-the-market rents, have investors with low expectations for returns on investment, or received a ton of subsidies are getting built. So when Stokes West, which intends to offer apartment rents that are 13-21 percent lower than its peers in and near University Circle, got design approval by City Planning Commission last summer, it was already facing an uphill climb. That changed when the development team joined forces with Geis Construction Inc. and found a way to deliver the project more affordably. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/05/03/stokes-west-redesigned/

When I lived in Geauga County in the early 1980s, my neighbor was a pilot for the New York City-Santiago route for Eastern Airlines. His drive to Hopkins (before I-480 was finished) took almost as long as his jumpseat ride from Hopkins to JFK. He had a long commute!

Interesting seeing what @Boomerang_Brianshared. Perhaps they started running at 110 today? I ask because my friend working the first train out of St. Louis this morning said they were early into every single station on the line. So it seems the schedule hasn't been changed yet. But Amtrak and IDOT will look at how the trains perform and then adjust the schedule accordingly.

Here comes the cold-formed steel framing flooring systems and load-bearing walls.

Building permits being submitted today for "Silver Hills at the Flats" 1960 Carter Rd. I think the address is a little off, based on Google maps.

I have no idea what the final plan will be because the planners don't either. That's why l wanted to do this article before Saturday -- to give people the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas while this plan is still fluid. If federal funds are going to be tapped, they have to have public input meetings. All federal funds are awarded based on an exhaustive public involvement process.

Exactly. I've heard from convention center officials that having some natural light coming into those ballroom windows is very important to them. There has actually been some opposition from the convention center folks to the land bridge idea because of the lighting situation. So they'd really like to have some natural light. One of the big reasons why we don't have more new-construction high-rise towers downtown is because the availability of obsolete commercial buildings to convert to residential. They have filled the void. Look at how many office buildings in the 10- to 30-story range have been converted in the last 20 years. I seem to recall the number is at least a dozen. I'm told that a new "significant" building next to the land bridge is already in the works. Financing for that building is coming together. It appears to involve a TIF.

Indeed. I used to think I could affect the future. Perhaps I still can in one way... by guiding and being remembered by my son. And that's a wonderful thing.

Although Gordon Lightfoot had many other hits, his best and probably most well-known song is the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." RIP Mr. Lightfoot and cheers to all the mariners on the tumultuous Great Lakes. Let these bells in Detroit ring in your memory forever more.

A friend of mine worked as the lead service attendant on a Lincoln Service train to St. Louis yesterday and is working a northbound train to Chicago today. Bummer that he's missing the speed increase by just one day!