Here's a bunch of photos I snapped on the morning of August 7 -- the same weekend of the Bridgestone Golf Classic at Firestone Country Club and the Pro Football Hall of Fame festivities about 20 miles south in Canton. Both are linked by the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad which was very busy that day!

 

But I was at Akron Northside to get some photos of the station area. I still need to get photos of the Cascade Locks area. That gives me an excuse for another ride south from Independence on CVSR (buy tickets online at www.cvsr.com).

 

First, here's Testa Company's 2005 vision for its Northside development, with the upper left being north and Howard Street running at a diagonal from upper left to lower right:

 

 

Where are we?

 

 

The hole where the new 10-story Marriott hotel will go:

 

 

Any questions on how close the new Northside development is to the CVSR station?

 

 

Looking south on Howard Street to downtown:

 

 

 

 

The first train from Canton has arrived Akron Northside:

 

 

Fake waterfall on the stairwell between the loft condo tower and the future Marriott:

 

 

View of the station from the stairwell:

 

 

CVSR Canton train pulling out of the station to make way for the arrival of the much longer train from Independence. After the Independence train returns north, the Canton train will pull back into the station to receiving connecting passengers dropped off by the Independence train. And there were a lot of them on this day:

 

 

Yep, world-class signage:

 

 

All these new neighbors on the Northside. But Luigi's has been here since 1949:

 

 

This old gas/service station knows where its bread is buttered these days, what with the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, its Bike Aboard service, and of course the Towpath Trail:

 

 

It's certainly a classic gas/service station:

 

 

The train from Independence has arrived Northside:

 

 

 

 

Good fences must make for good neighbors:

 

 

No wonder CVSR is on track to handle more than 24,000 bicycles in 2010:

 

 

 

 

The trains also connect with a free Akron Metro RTA downtown loop bus (see schedule at: http://www.akronmetro.org/schedule%20pdfs/Loop%20Schedule%20-%20Single%20Sheet%20-%202010.pdf):

 

 

 

The Bike Aboard service as well as the bus linkages at Akron and Canton (http://www.sartaonline.com/pdf/routes/801_print.pdf) have turned the CVSR from a toy into serious transportation. Just ask this group of Mennonites who were waiting for the Independence train to depart so the Canton train could pull in and board them. They were then going to transfer to SARTA to reach the southern end of its bus system near Brewster:

 

 

Meanwhile other CVSR riders headed north on their bikes to the Towpath Trail:

 

 

 

 

Just another typical summer morning on Akron's Northside! Hope you enjoyed the visit:

Awesome!

This is really very nice.  Akron- the little city that could, and did!

Yay!  And while I wasn't out on the trails this weekend and so wouldn't be in any of those pictures, I definitely and proudly account for a half-dozen or more of those 24,000 cyclist trips.  Great way to get home from a great ride.

Very cool.  I really don't know much about the CVSR, but it seems like it's very successful and full of potential.

Check out the CVSR thread at:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,3566.0.html

 

Consider that CVSR is Ohio's only passenger railroad service that has enjoyed significant federal, local government and private sector funding support. That has resulted in CVSR:

 

> being the beneficiary of $35 million in federal funds for infrastructure improvements including new or rebuilt bridges, tracks, road crossing safety devices, stations etc;

> using tracks owned by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Akron Metro Regional Transit Authority;

> having its operating costs financially backed by a stable transit authority (again, Akron Metro RTA);

> partnering with transit agencies in Akron and Canton to provide free downtown circulator bus services for CVSR passengers;

> enjoying the strong support of the corporate community in Cleveland, Akron and Canton including major sponsorships to pay for the first-class rebuilding of railroad cars;

> enjoying the strong support of the civic community in Cleveland, Akron and Canton to provide CVSR passengers with discounted admissions to museums and other attractions;

> having on-board service partnerships with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Rangers to provide in-person and electronic audio guides for sights along the route.

 

Those are just some of the ways CVSR has become Ohio's largest passenger railroad service, outdrawing Amtrak in ridership in 2009 (152,000 riders for CVSR vs. 128,000 for Amtrak). It shows that when Ohioans have access to a well-supported, quality passenger rail service linking Ohio cities with multiple daily trains, they will ride.

Can't wait for it to make it to Downtown Cleveland.  Watch those ridership numbers really skyrocket!

Can't wait for it to make it to Downtown Cleveland. Watch those ridership numbers really skyrocket!

 

I am curious.  Has CVSR done any ridership projections at to what would happen if CVSR made it into the Terminal Tower?

The extra thousands which could possibly enter Tower City wouldn't hurt I'm sure.  I wonder if Forest City would back this?  It would seem like a no-brainer to get more people into the stores.  If the line were actually extended, I would find it hard to believe that we won't see the Scranton Peninsula redeveloped within the next few years- I mean come on... a casino along with the CVSR being extended to Tower City?  Talk about connectivity.

I will discuss CVSR's proposed extension to downtown Cleveland in the CVSR thread. But I'm glad you all are seeing the tremendous economic development potential of this linkage, as what's happening on Akron's Northside is just an indication of what's possible in downtown Cleveland. I became aware of this synergy only this summer as I had previously thought of CVSR as only a full-size toy train. But CVSR has really grown up in recent years, and Akron's Northside is reaping the greatest benefit from this, so far.