KJP

Second apartment complex next to Herman Park By Ken Prendergast / November 7, 2024 Herman Park may be in need of updating, but its presence is enough to attract a second proposed apartment building to rise next to it. Conceptual designs for that building, located at 6400 Herman Ave. in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood, were approved yesterday by a neighborhood design-review panel and referred to the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/11/07/second-apartment-complex-next-to-herman-park/

Dammit! I just got the presentation. I wanted to break it. Nice job, @Henke!

Oh yea, that's right. In my aging mind, if it happened after the 1980s, it didn't happen! 😉 Thx

That property transferred via a fiduciary deed in June.

I love Burlington!

Just heard this morning. It's a go.

@guardianpayroll The only way it happens is if Brightline shows an interest in Ohio. Brightline and America are now run by billionaire oligarchs. If a billionaire doesn't want it, it's not going to happen.

Omitted are Brightline's Florida and LA-Vegas routes

BofA: Cleveland near top of migration destinations By Ken Prendergast / November 6, 2024 Greater Cleveland ranked fourth on the list of global financial institution Bank of America’s (BofA) latest rankings of where people are moving. That data shows Americans are continuing a pandemic-induced flight to affordability, without sacrificing amenities, in choosing where they want to live. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/11/06/bofa-cleveland-near-top-of-migration-destinations/

Need another reason to flee Ohio? Breaking: Ohio Republicans have tightened their grip on the Ohio Supreme Court from 4-3 to 6-1 by ousting two incumbent Democratic justices and winning a third, open seat, the Associated Press projects. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/11/05/republicans-win-all-three-ohio-supreme-court-races-increasing-hold-over-court-to-6-1-ap-projects/

Moreno projected to defeat incumbent Brown to take Ohio’s highly-contested Senate seat for Republicans. https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/politics/ohio-politics/moreno-projected-to-defeat-incumbent-brown-to-take-ohios-highly-contested-senate-seat-for-republicans

Ohioans have rejected Issue 1 – the constitutional amendment attempting to ban gerrymandering, according to News 5 election partner Decision Desk HQ. https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/politics/ohio-politics/issue-1-fails-as-ohioans-vote-to-keep-redistricting-in-the-hands-of-lawmakers

That map is this one.... https://asm.transitdocs.com/ There are several other train status maps. There's the official Amtrak map... https://www.amtrak.com/track-your-train-with-google-maps And this one too... https://dixielandsoftware.net/Amtrak/status/StatusMaps/

They sent emails out offering hard-hat tours in a couple of weeks. Yep, I'll take lots of pictures.

We hardly knew ya

Women Religious Archives Center OK’d for downtown By Ken Prendergast / November 4, 2024 As fundraising continues, the nation’s first independent repository for Catholic Sisters’ archival collections could see construction start in March 2025 on the southeast side of Downtown Cleveland. The planned Women Religious Archives Collaborative (WRAC) Heritage Center at 2490 E. 22nd St. will offer public programming, exhibitions, meeting space, and be an important place for research and remembrance due to open in 2026. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/11/04/women-religious-archives-center-okd-for-downtown/

$800 million for 3.2 miles and two more stations to Clairmont and Montclair (cute reversal of names).... L.A. Metro Approves Funding for Final Phase of Foothill Gold Line https://www.metro-magazine.com/10230921/l-a-metro-approves-funding-for-final-phase-of-foothill-gold-line

Thanks @E Rocc !!

The downtown Lakewood development is planned on roughly the same size plot of land -- 6 acres. Planned are 298 apartments, seven for-sale townhomes, 31,350 square feet of ground-floor commercial spaces and a LOT of structured parking. And at one point a 40,000-square-foot grocery store was to be included... https://neo-trans.blog/2024/10/14/downtown-lakewood-project-nears-final-approval/

Except I was looking hard for it and I couldn't see it. Most people wouldn't be looking for it. And it wasn't the logo. IIRC, they painted "Amtrak 1-800-USA-RAIL."

Not at all. It actually happened for a brief time. That was my first advocacy effort, starting at Kent State University in the late-1980s. In January 1989, as a 21-year-old, I went to Washington DC. and got Ross Capon, the head of NARP (today's Rail Passengers Association) to come with me to meet with several Amtrak executives at the Amtrak HQ. I was able to get Amtrak to commit to extending the Pennsylvanian IF Ohio paid for the capital costs which included upgrading the traffic control/signal system between Cleveland and Alliance (about $26 million IIRC) and add a layover/servicing track at Cleveland with a widened platform (another $1 million). Amtrak estimated that the extension to Cleveland would generate enough ridership and revenue to more than cover the additional operating costs of the extension -- an incremental profit! En route stations would be addressed later (this was before Alliance gained a station resulting from the Broadway/Capitol reroute a year later). And that reroute actually made the Pennsylvanian extension more likely, as Conrail paid to upgrade the Cleveland-Alliance traffic control system and built a direct track connection from the Cleveland-Alliance line into the Cleveland Amtrak station. Now all we needed was the layover track/widened platform. But that became moot because Amtrak decided to get into the mail/package express business in a big way and decided to extend the Pennsylvanian all the way to Chicago (but shortened the east end, moving the terminus from New York to Philadelphia). The Pennsylvanian extension began service on Nov. 7, 1998. Unfortunately, Amtrak totally screwed it up with comically bad marketing and incompetent management, a fact aggravated by the Conrail split in 1999 that caused a major meltdown in eastern rail traffic for months. On some days, the Pennsylvanian ran 6+ hours late, snaking its way through numerous stopped freight trains for which crews were unavailable. Then Amtrak rescheduled the train to depart Chicago late at night and few people used it. When Amtrak was pressured by the freight railroads to get out of the mail/express business, the Pennsylvanian extension ended in early February 2003. After that happened, I was pretty bitter. I stopped being a passenger rail advocate until I went to Europe for the first time in 2007.

This project in Milwaukee has some similarities to the key piece of the Lakefront Bypass in Cleveland.... https://www.wpr.org/news/wisconsin-to-receive-nearly-73m-in-federal-funds-freight-passenger-rail ...It is about 2.2 miles of new double-track or roughly 4.4 track-miles for freight trains to bypass the downtown intermodal transportation center. We could do something similar here in Cleveland. The minimum trackage needed for a Lakefront Bypass might require a single-track, 2.4-mile mainline railroad on the right of way of the former Erie RR mainline in the North Broadway neighborhood. That could accommodate the permanent reroute of up to two dozen trains a day, out of the 70 daily freights that currently go via the lakefront. To level it up a notch, a second main track could be built and, with a more gradual curve at the east end of the bypass near Union Avenue/East 82nd, freight trains could travel faster. That and the second main track would dramatically increase capacity, potentially handling 30-50 freight trains per day. That might require 2.8 miles of double track or 5.6 track-miles for the bypass, plus a realigned track to the lakefront about 0.5 miles long, for about 6.1 new track-miles. This version is shown below. That Lakefront Bypass' second option would still be limited by the existing curves and Rockport Yard switching activity at the west end of the bypass, near Hopkins Airport. To address and reroute all freight traffic from the lakefront, that isn't serving lakefront route shippers (maybe a half-dozen trains a day), it could involve a third main track around Rockport Yard with a gradual curve at the east end of the yard so trains that are just passing through through can maintain speeds of about 40-50 mph. Anyway, here's where the minimum investments might need to be done. That Milwaukee project is a nice model for it....

More next-door neighbors doing stuff.... Amtrak Receives Federal Grants to Improve Chicago Service and Support Partner Projects across the Midwest https://media.amtrak.com/2024/10/amtrak-receives-federal-grants-to-improve-chicago-service-and-support-partner-projects-across-the-midwest/

Neither of which makes you feel like you're part of something greater than yourself.