KJP

León to lead Cuyahoga Land Bank By Ken Prendergast / September 27, 2024 Ricardo León gained something by losing something. He lost the prefix “Interim” prior to his title of “President” of the Cuyahoga Land Bank, a private, nonprofit government entity whose mission it is to acquire properties, return them to productive use, reduce blight and increase property values in Cuyahoga County. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/09/27/leon-to-lead-cuyahoga-land-bank/

Not if it was a push-pull train (ie one with cab cars at either end). One thing GCRTA and its consultants didn't apparently consider was rerouting NS trains via Collinwood Yards and taking over the NS right of way through Windermere to the east for use by the Red Line. Perhaps at least to Wickliffe or even Willoughby. It would have saved building multiple double-track bridges and especially a costly flyover bridge for the Red Line to get from the south side of the NS ROW to the north side. There are a couple of NS freight shippers but that could be handled by a NS using the Red Line tracks at night -- called a temporal separation of freight/transit traffic. It's done elsewhere -- formerly in Baltimore to Cockeysville (15 miles) on a former freight railroad turned into electric light-rail and Pennsauken-Trenton NJ (30 miles) with diesel light rail and heavy freight traffic still involved.

Fun fact -- the HealthLine was originally proposed to be built with electric buses pulling juice from overhead wires. Thus pre-Calabrese GCRTA wanted to make the HealthLine as convertible to rail as possible. But GCRTA came under pressure to reduce the project's costs as Congress and its transit-overseeing committees at that time weren't interested in new starts transit projects and instead were interested only in high-occupancy vehicle lanes on highways. Getting any funding approved for the HealthLine in the early- to mid-2000s was miraculous. Stokes, LaTourette and Tubbs Jones made it happen. But the stations were still designed for use by light-rail trains. And there's an old memory somewhere in the depths of my brain that's telling me that Euclid's bus lane concrete slabs were designed to pull them up easily and replace them with tracks either in a grassy median or embedded in new concrete like a streetcar.

This little building at 1300 Carnegie Ave is proposed to be demolished. In the permit application by the owner MDM Realty Ltd, they write "proposed demolition of existing 2-story building at 1300 Carnegie and either re-pave and re-stripe for additional parking or demo building and grass in former footprint." I think you have to have a better plan than that -- and even then it's only supposed to be an interim use. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4969503,-81.6799757,3a,75y,89.65h,87.26t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s8RIjPhTdw8CJkSh1PzIQiA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D2.7415214607506897%26panoid%3D8RIjPhTdw8CJkSh1PzIQiA%26yaw%3D89.6532085076921!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D BTW, Geis is also proposing to raze their parking garage off Prospect near East 9th. No news on what if anything would replace it.

It had great ridership up to about 1960 when it had 60,000 boardings per weekday. It fell by half into the 1980s and was at 15,000-20,000 per weekday into the mid-2010s which would be good for a light-rail line, but not a heavy metro. Our light-rail lines typically had about half of the ridership of the Red Line which was still more than the Healthline. BTW the buses that funneled into the Euclid Corridor between UC and Downtown carried just over 50,000 people per weekday in the early 1980s. Now they carry fewer than 10% of that. If you really want a shocker, consider that the streetcars on Euclid used to carry over 100,000 riders per day and it wasn't even the Cleveland Railway Company's busiest line. St. Clair was; Superior was a close third.

Bridgeworks can finally build – up to two stories By Ken Prendergast / September 26, 2024 After four years of going through multiple design iterations, it somehow seems natural that Bridgeworks finally got the OK today from the city to start construction — but only up to the second floor. To build above that, the project’s development team is going to have to come back to the city for design approval of the building’s top five floors. The team pledged it would do so — quickly. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/09/26/bridgeworks-can-finally-build-up-to-two-stories/

I've been to the Beekman, too! Back in 2014.

I was talking to a member of the development team about the future office building who said it was a long way off in this challenging market. I asked the guy, who got his start in office development, if the Canon Healthcare HQ was a possibility for it. He didn't respond right away. Later, he said "thanks for the tip." I mean, really? You didn't think of that already??

I hate when my article is the last post on a page!

Still trying to figure that out. It appears they're at about $30 million -- more than halfway to their goal. With each new bit of funding they raise, they're able to add more features to the park. The basic grading and seeding plus trails, amphitheater, overlook plazas, picnic areas, boardwalk, etc are now funded. Irishtown Bend Park gets $10.8M federal grant By Ken Prendergast / September 26, 2024 With each new donation and grant, sponsors of the planned $45 million Irishtown Bend Park in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood move closer to their fundraising goal. And today, they moved a lot closer with $10.8 million awarded by the National Park Service’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Program. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/09/26/irishtown-bend-park-gets-10-8m-federal-grant/

Realities behind Amtrak’s ‘new’ train to Florida By Ken Prendergast / September 25, 2024 While Amtrak’s press release about the creation of a direct-but-temporary Chicago-Florida passenger rail service through Cleveland touted it as an achievement, the reality behind it is actually quite different. According to several sources, the direct service is being implemented to rescue Amtrak from its own shortcomings — both internal and external. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/09/25/realities-behind-amtraks-new-train-to-florida/

NSFW but funny

Or that people vote not only for their own personal self-interest but for the betterment of society?? Sometimes I think Republicans can't grasp that concept.

There are two sets of two-track railroads that parallel the Red Line through University Circle. One is owned by CSX (former New York Central) and the other by Norfolk Southern (former Nickel Plate). At the Superior station in East Cleveland, the CSX/NYC turns north to and through the Collinwood Yard. The NS/NKP continues alongside the Red Line to and through Windermere. The CSX/NYC tracks host about 50-60 freight trains per day while the NS/NKP tracks host about 15 freight trains per day. The NS tracks would be better for commuter trains because they could serve University Circle and downtown and because they're much less busy. The CSX/NYC tracks don't go downtown. It would be good if the NS/NKP tracks were double-tracked with mainline-quality tracks east of Lincoln Electric to at least Willoughby. Although going beyond Willoughby gets expensive because of bridge construction.

My son desperately wants to play for Iggy. And when he was in Akron last spring for a regional science competition (he won that and then won state -- brains AND brawn, baby!), we stopped by their soccer practice and I showed him where their players come from -- ie: all over the world.

Library Lofts turning next page at Circle Square By Ken Prendergast / September 24, 2024 With a partial occupancy permit from the city awarded, arriving residents are opening the book on Library Lofts — the latest building to be offered at the Circle Square district of Cleveland’s University Circle. Like a novel with a thick plot, progress on the apartment building-over-public library has taken lots of turns, though it’s not done yet. But this page-turner is almost there. And what a poetic conclusion it may turn out to be. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/09/24/library-lofts-turning-next-page-at-circle-square/

No, not confusing at all. To be Frank, it makes my blood boil/want to punch someone.

Bridgeworks – one more review ’til they’re through? By Ken Prendergast / September 23, 2024 It’s been said before — many times; many ways. No, not “Merry Christmas.” But “We hope this is the final design for Bridgeworks.” And the Bridgeworks development team hopes to start site preparations by the end of next month with construction to follow — perhaps by the time chestnuts are roasting on an open fire at Christmas, by the way. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/09/23/bridgeworks-one-more-review-til-theyre-through/

Yup. Because it goes to Tampa first and then reverses direction. If you want to arrive West Palm by train, you could save 90 minutes if you got off at Orlando, took a taxi to the Airport and caught Brightline. Takes Brightline 2 hours to go ORL-WPB vs 4-6 hours by Amtrak. Brightline has 16 ORL-WPB round trips per day. Amtrak has two. Imagine if Brightline was the model for passenger rail nationwide and not Amtrak.

That's correct. @dwolfi01 @JB

But why are they threre? Perhaps they have a potential customer nearby? They aren't available for charter.

Charter Steel is headquartered in Milwaukee but has a large plant in Cuyahoga Heights. So the execs often travel back and forth to Cleveland on those private cars. But I don't understand why they're in Glen Willow. Maybe they're looking to invest nearby?

But the original electrically Metroliner trainsets were glitchy. They didn't survive the 80s as trainsets but they were de-motored and converted into cab cars for use on push-pull trains with a diesel or electric locomotive at the other end. In 1983 or so, Amtrak replaced the trainsets in Metroliner service with AEM7 electric locos hauling Amfleet II's with more legroom than the Amfleet I's and called them Metroliners. The late-1960s trainsets survived a few more years in Keystone Service until repurposed as unpowered cab cars.

Exactly