3 minutes ago, ogibbigo said:

It will never not be embarassing until they eliminate the road through the middle of it. Completely half assed project for a decent original design.

I wouldn't call it embarrassing for that. The reasoning that there is bus traffic through the square is not because Cleveland wanted it, it was the complete opposite. I can't fault Cleveland, a poor city for not wanting to pay millions of dollars just to get around that. 

How long can FTA hold the city hostage for the bus lane requirement?

There are good reasons to keep the bus lane open besides the FTA funds. 

2 minutes ago, Mendo said:

There are good reasons to keep the bus lane open besides the FTA funds. 

I don't mind it, I like that it allows people to be dropped off in the heart of the square. If car traffic was allowed it would be a different conversation. 

28 minutes ago, MyPhoneDead said:

I don't mind it, I like that it allows people to be dropped off in the heart of the square. If car traffic was allowed it would be a different conversation. 

I think it would look much better if it wasn't 4 lanes wide. I think having it be 2 lanes the whole way would look good.

3 hours ago, LibertyBlvd said:

How long can FTA hold the city hostage for the bus lane requirement?

 

Seriously? How is it "hostage" when you apply for bus lane funding?

Well, I thought the FTA funding was just for the work done on Euclid Avenue for the Euclid Corridor aka HealthLine. I didn't think there was any work done at Public Square.  And apparently there was no FTA funding for the Public Square renovation which occurred in 2015-16 based on this article:

 

https://www.cleveland.com/architecture/2015/06/public_square_renovation_proje.html

 

And then there is this:

 

https://fox8.com/news/cleveland-rta-moves-forward-with-plans-to-keep-public-square-closed-to-buses/

 

Edited July 13, 2024Jul 13 by LibertyBlvd
Added more info

1 hour ago, LibertyBlvd said:

Well, I thought the FTA funding was just for the Euclid Corridor aka HealthLine. I didn't think there was any FTA funding for the Public Square renovation.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/architecture/2015/06/public_square_renovation_proje.html

 

 

It was for Euclid, Public Square and for Superior.

 

Cleveland’s Public Square gets $750K for improvements
By Ken Prendergast / July 13, 2024

 

The work to improve Cleveland’s centuries-old Public Square, a New England-style community commons, is never done. In the latest effort, Downtown Cleveland Inc. will receive $750,000 in funds from the Ohio legislature’s one-time Strategic Community Investment Fund for a more welcoming, engaging and inclusive Public Square for all.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/13/clevelands-public-square-gets-750k-for-improvements/

On 7/11/2024 at 4:36 PM, sizzlinbeef said:

 

That was the color of the stuff when it originally went in, so I think the answer is yes, it will fade or dirty to the color on the left.

 

 

Revising what I said here after visiting just recently.  They used two types of filler, one lighter one for the square paver archway design sections, and one darker one for the 4x8 dark grey pavers.  I was remembering the dark filler for the 4x8's and perhaps they just used leftovers of that stuff for the new section.   So my answer now is 'who knows'.

New paid parking meters are up in Ohio City near Dave's. People are already complaining about it. I honestly get it, though; was there seriously no coordination with local businesses/residents to ensure that employees and residents could get permits or something? 

16 minutes ago, hamish20 said:

New paid parking meters are up in Ohio City near Dave's. People are already complaining about it. I honestly get it, though; was there seriously no coordination with local businesses/residents to ensure that employees and residents could get permits or something? 

Parking is not a right unless you own the land a parking spot sits on. 

4 minutes ago, downtownjoe said:

Parking is not a right unless you own the land a parking spot sits on. 

Didn't mean to imply that I'm against the meters generally! Just feel that the rollout could have been coordinated/organized better. I think it's pretty common for residents in other cities like Chicago to have permits on metered streets, no? Realistically, how is a two-hour parking limit compatible with the fact that many people there are residents with only off-street parking? 

I’m pretty sure Ohio City Inc did a big parking & mobility study recently, but I hadn’t heard anything come of it.

32 minutes ago, hamish20 said:

Didn't mean to imply that I'm against the meters generally! Just feel that the rollout could have been coordinated/organized better. I think it's pretty common for residents in other cities like Chicago to have permits on metered streets, no? Realistically, how is a two-hour parking limit compatible with the fact that many people there are residents with only off-street parking? 

 

The rollout has been going on seemingly forever. All of the meters downtown mention that a parking change is coming and have for at least 1-2 months. I haven't paid attention to OHC but I'd assume its the same thing there. Most neighborhoods in Pittsburgh have parking passes, I could park on my side of the street but even with the pass I'd have to pay for metered across the street. 

 

There has to be a happy medium w/folks who don't have their own parking, but also I'm not going to feel bad for some dude who drives to OHC - arguably one of the best transit connected neighborhoods outside of downtown. 

It's currently $0.65 per hour to park curbside in Ohio City with the new parking app. Cheaper than the previous coin meter rate. And it doesn't require payment between 6 PM and 7 AM. This should in theory make it easier for residents to have spaces available in the new pay to park zones as it will turn over the cars during the day quicker. In typical neighborhood fashion everyone complains about change without spending a minute thinking about what the change will bring. 

1 minute ago, Jukeboxer said:

It's currently $0.65 per hour to park curbside in Ohio City with the new parking app. Cheaper than the previous coin meter rate. And it doesn't require payment between 6 PM and 7 AM. This should in theory make it easier for residents to have spaces available in the new pay to park zones as it will turn over the cars during the day quicker. In typical neighborhood fashion everyone complains about change without spending a minute thinking about what the change will bring. 

 

Hopefully we get good enforcement of the meters to go along with the change. If they never ticket overstayed cars then it won't help much. I'm hopeful though but admittedly I know nothing about parking enforcement in Cleveland. 

2 minutes ago, Jukeboxer said:

It's currently $0.65 per hour to park curbside in Ohio City with the new parking app. Cheaper than the previous coin meter rate. And it doesn't require payment between 6 PM and 7 AM. This should in theory make it easier for residents to have spaces available in the new pay to park zones as it will turn over the cars during the day quicker. In typical neighborhood fashion everyone complains about change without spending a minute thinking about what the change will bring. 

 

GOTTA PAY FOR THAT STADIUM SOMEHOW!

 

🙄

1 minute ago, dwolfi01 said:

 

Hopefully we get good enforcement of the meters to go along with the change. If they never ticket overstayed cars then it won't help much. I'm hopeful though but admittedly I know nothing about parking enforcement in Cleveland. 

 

Devolving into a parking thread, but the new system will now allow for license plate readers to be used. It'll be a much more efficient process to ticket folks. Now get the same tech over to RTA, please.

I'm just going to say that, as someone who lives and works in Cleveland and is generally super in-favor of having more public transit options, there should be a window of free parking for people for a short period (15 minutes used to be common with coin meters).  This encourages quick turnaround (and discourages people clogging the area) without being a detriment to local businesses.  As someone who got ticketed for parking at a meter for less than 5 minutes to patronize a local bookstore, I can say that the lack of place to briefly park has deterred me from the area.  I feel like a 15-minute window is a good option that balances both desires well.

Edited August 13, 2024Aug 13 by Chris314
clarity

Parking is free at the west side market for the first hour. 

6 hours ago, hamish20 said:

I think it's pretty common for residents in other cities like Chicago to have permits on metered streets, no? 

Chicago has permit parking (stickers) on residential streets but not on metered streets. If you live on a metered street/block you'll be assigned a permit for parking on an adjacent residential street.

 

I personally like the model used in Short North in Columbus. To park on side street you either have a residential permit or you pay to park during metered hours. Apparently Ohio City forgot the permit part of that.

1 hour ago, Rustbelter said:

Chicago has permit parking (stickers) on residential streets but not on metered streets. If you live on a metered street/block you'll be assigned a permit for parking on an adjacent residential street.

 

I personally like the model used in Short North in Columbus. To park on side street you either have a residential permit or you pay to park during metered hours. Apparently Ohio City forgot the permit part of that.

Chicago also is in a unique situation because the technically "don't own their Streets" they privatized their meters, and parking garages downtown during the great recession, selling them for $1.2 billion instead of raising property taxes.

2 hours ago, Rustbelter said:

Chicago has permit parking (stickers) on residential streets but not on metered streets. If you live on a metered street/block you'll be assigned a permit for parking on an adjacent residential street.

 

I personally like the model used in Short North in Columbus. To park on side street you either have a residential permit or you pay to park during metered hours. Apparently Ohio City forgot the permit part of that.

Permits would be great.   The problem is Cleveland has minimal staff for enforcement. 

 

The other thing Cleveland should do is enforce parking bans on opposite sides of the street, depending on the day of the week.  This serves two functions--it allows the city to actually clean streets (a rarity in Cleveland) and it also forces people to move their cars.   I have several near me that haven't moved in months and I'm not even sure they run.   

9 hours ago, Cleburger said:

This serves two functions--it allows the city to actually clean streets (a rarity in Cleveland) and it also forces people to move their cars.

 

Hey now, I see the streetsweepers in the weeks leading up to council elections lol

 

9 hours ago, Cleburger said:

I have several near me that haven't moved in months and I'm not even sure they run.   

 

I'd put in a complaint w/311 or non-emergency police number. I had my janky old car parked on a side street near me and an old lady called it in, I had a police contact card on my windshield the next time I went over to it. I'm sure @KFM44107 can be more helpful, but there's a certain time limit before they can be towed.

9 hours ago, Cleburger said:

Permits would be great.   The problem is Cleveland has minimal staff for enforcement. 

 

The other thing Cleveland should do is enforce parking bans on opposite sides of the street, depending on the day of the week.  This serves two functions--it allows the city to actually clean streets (a rarity in Cleveland) and it also forces people to move their cars.   I have several near me that haven't moved in months and I'm not even sure they run.   

Parking Bans make me itch, Cleveland goes over board with the police orders which to me discourages people from coming down as much. I love the city and Downtown and I hate coming down there on the weekend because I know it'll be hell to park on the street. My hope is with all of this new technology they can beef up the traffic dept. and create an efficient enforcement system. What is the point of investing in these smart parking systems with peak pricing if the city can't see the monetary benefits due to restrictions in the most desirable parts of the city. 

1 hour ago, MyPhoneDead said:

Parking Bans make me itch, Cleveland goes over board with the police orders which to me discourages people from coming down as much. I love the city and Downtown and I hate coming down there on the weekend because I know it'll be hell to park on the street. My hope is with all of this new technology they can beef up the traffic dept. and create an efficient enforcement system. What is the point of investing in these smart parking systems with peak pricing if the city can't see the monetary benefits due to restrictions in the most desirable parts of the city. 

 

Back in the day, the area around Ohio State's campus had a private towing company that patrolled and lifted cars as fast as you could blink.  All the students complained about Shamrock.  They made their money on the $75 impoundment fees.  Cleveland could do something similar, it wouldn't have to be a government parking agency -- just bid it out and let private companies tow from expired meters.

The city often treats visitors as an inconvenience and does not have a culture of hospitality. Yeah, we can land some big events and do a nice job with those - but in general keeping up appearances and caring about the visitor experience are not a priority. Prime example - snow plows lined up blocking 9th street during last week’s Browns game. Looked like the city was preparing for a riot vs managing traffic flow. Add to that no signs for which way folks should go created chaos on the roads. 

4 hours ago, GISguy said:

 

Hey now, I see the streetsweepers in the weeks leading up to council elections lol

 

 

I'd put in a complaint w/311 or non-emergency police number. I had my janky old car parked on a side street near me and an old lady called it in, I had a police contact card on my windshield the next time I went over to it. I'm sure @KFM44107 can be more helpful, but there's a certain time limit before they can be towed.

Ya. Just call your district and the traffic unit should handle. If no one moves it they'll tow them after like 48 hours I think. If the cars are on private property it becomes a building and housing issue. 

9 minutes ago, KFM44107 said:

Ya. Just call your district and the traffic unit should handle. If no one moves it they'll tow them after like 48 hours I think. If the cars are on private property it becomes a building and housing issue. 

 

What about on a private street?  

22 minutes ago, E Rocc said:

 

What about on a private street?  

I was more talking about junk cars on lawns and stuff. We can only ticket if there's signage for a private street. Otherwise the owner/HOA has to handle the towing (with proper signage). 

I have noticed that the street lamps in front of The City Club Apartments on Euclid Avenue are now a different design than the rest of the street. Anyone know why they changed them to a different look?

On 8/14/2024 at 6:57 PM, dave2017 said:

I have noticed that the street lamps in front of The City Club Apartments on Euclid Avenue are now a different design than the rest of the street. Anyone know why they changed them to a different look?

 

I noticed that last week too.  It reminded me of a post (possibly in this thread) with pictures of all the different street lights used downtown.  There were something like 8 different street light designs.  Strange!!

Positive Opportunity Corridor/tree canopy news (feel free to move if a better thread exists):

 

Cleveland aims to save the trees on Opportunity Corridor

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/09/cleveland-aims-to-save-the-trees-on-opportunity-corridor.html

 

"A portion of the grant money will specifically target the 700 young trees planted in 2021 and 2022 along Opportunity Corridor. Those trees aren’t poised for success, as is, and need to be revitalized so they can survive into the future and flourish, officials said."

Replace with wild flowers and grasses that look great and require no maintenance. 

16 hours ago, Geowizical said:

Positive Opportunity Corridor/tree canopy news (feel free to move if a better thread exists):

 

Cleveland aims to save the trees on Opportunity Corridor

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/09/cleveland-aims-to-save-the-trees-on-opportunity-corridor.html

 

"A portion of the grant money will specifically target the 700 young trees planted in 2021 and 2022 along Opportunity Corridor. Those trees aren’t poised for success, as is, and need to be revitalized so they can survive into the future and flourish, officials said."

 

Keeping the trees alive doesn't matter when cars are running into them on the regular.

16 hours ago, OldEnough said:

Replace with wild flowers and grasses that look great and require no maintenance. 

 

Would love to replicate this across all ODOT medians - I could look it up but - I can't imagine how much they pay private contractors to mow the ROWs in the summer months.

 

Also, the OC bike path is pretty miserable in its current state, I was talking to @Boomerang_Brian about it during slow roll - but I'd think the trees (on the path side at least) are intended to be 1.) natural barrier from cars (which is 30 years off) and 2.) provide some shade to the path (again 30 years off). The path is convenient if you want to bisect a bunch of streets from 105-55, but it's not a fun experience.

It bothers me to see this public space so underutilized. It could be one of the most visited attractions of Cleveland, like a beautiful High Line park. A public venue surrounded by housing and multiple access points with parking relocated to new garages nearby. And yet here it sits devoid of human life -- empty at one end and used as a parking lot at the other. Photo by @Ethan  Rant over...

 

25 minutes ago, KJP said:

It bothers me to see this public space so underutilized. It could be one of the most visited attractions of Cleveland, like a beautiful High Line park. A public venue surrounded by housing and multiple access points with parking relocated to new garages nearby. And yet here it sits devoid of human life -- empty at one end and used as a parking lot at the other. Photo by @Ethan  Rant over...

 

Agreed. It wasn't quite as empty as the picture makes it seem, and it was fairly late on a Wednesday night, but there's no question it's underutilized. I was up here eating dinner at an outdoor table with some old and new friends. It's a gorgeous location, and with a bit more love, I'm sure a lot more people would choose to do something similar. It wouldn't take much to draw a lot more people, even a, non-ideal, more minor (and cheaper) change that doesn't close any more of the bridge to cars could make a huge difference. Just prettying it up, more planters, some art, etc, could make a huge difference. Make it feel welcoming, and people will come. 

 

On a completely different note, the other thing I think that could help a lot is a stairs at the end, because it would let people walk through without turning around. They don't need to be anything special, or even handicap accessible, a bland, cheap fire escape would help quite a bit, let people walk through. 

1 hour ago, Ethan said:

 On a completely different note, the other thing I think that could help a lot is a stairs at the end, because it would let people walk through without turning around. They don't need to be anything special, or even handicap accessible, a bland, cheap fire escape would help quite a bit, let people walk through. 

This would help so much. It would probably get 5k more people on it per week just from people using it to get to a concert. 

4 hours ago, Ethan said:

Agreed. It wasn't quite as empty as the picture makes it seem, and it was fairly late on a Wednesday night, but there's no question it's underutilized. I was up here eating dinner at an outdoor table with some old and new friends. It's a gorgeous location, and with a bit more love, I'm sure a lot more people would choose to do something similar. It wouldn't take much to draw a lot more people, even a, non-ideal, more minor (and cheaper) change that doesn't close any more of the bridge to cars could make a huge difference. Just prettying it up, more planters, some art, etc, could make a huge difference. Make it feel welcoming, and people will come. 

 

On a completely different note, the other thing I think that could help a lot is a stairs at the end, because it would let people walk through without turning around. They don't need to be anything special, or even handicap accessible, a bland, cheap fire escape would help quite a bit, let people walk through. 

It would also help to have a 25 story hotel/apartment tower on the corner :) 

Except for a view, there isn't really a draw.  It needs to be lined with some cafes or shops, instead of the upper stories of apartment buildings.

27 minutes ago, X said:

Except for a view, there isn't really a draw.  It needs to be lined with some cafes or shops, instead of the upper stories of apartment buildings.

Would make a cool little rotating food truck park. 

On 9/12/2024 at 6:41 PM, Cleburger said:

It would also help to have a 25 story hotel/apartment tower on the corner :) 

Instead we get a rehab center. 

9 hours ago, originaljbw said:

Instead we get a rehab center. 

What a lame take. 

On 9/12/2024 at 2:24 PM, Ethan said:

Agreed. It wasn't quite as empty as the picture makes it seem, and it was fairly late on a Wednesday night, but there's no question it's underutilized. I was up here eating dinner at an outdoor table with some old and new friends. It's a gorgeous location, and with a bit more love, I'm sure a lot more people would choose to do something similar. It wouldn't take much to draw a lot more people, even a, non-ideal, more minor (and cheaper) change that doesn't close any more of the bridge to cars could make a huge difference. Just prettying it up, more planters, some art, etc, could make a huge difference. Make it feel welcoming, and people will come. 

 

On a completely different note, the other thing I think that could help a lot is a stairs at the end, because it would let people walk through without turning around. They don't need to be anything special, or even handicap accessible, a bland, cheap fire escape would help quite a bit, let people walk through. 

Be the change you wanna see! 

Interesting tidbit in this - Opportunity Corridor will be now maintained by city, not state 

https://signalcleveland.org/78000-cleveland-households-using-in-recycling-program/

 

I hope this is only for the trees and bike path not the road surface, otherwise it's really awesome that the cycle of building new roads while we can't maintain our current roads continues. I wonder how funding shakes out regarding maintaining the road surface down the line...

Anyone drive from downtown to UC on Euclid Ave recently? What a mess that road is. Come to think of it Euclid started breaking down right after they put the new bus line in. I know weather does a number on our streets but l think the reason for it breaking down so soon is the method in which it was built. 

 

Somebody made some bad decisions there.

26 minutes ago, cadmen said:

Anyone drive from downtown to UC on Euclid Ave recently? What a mess that road is. Come to think of it Euclid started breaking down right after they put the new bus line in. I know weather does a number on our streets but l think the reason for it breaking down so soon is the method in which it was built. 

 

Somebody made some bad decisions there.

 

The bus ride is LOUD

 

The repair of surfaces always confounds me - we patch concrete with asphalt, and when we do patch concrete with concrete we somehow find a mix that shatters after two weeks.

A direct route to/from Cleveland so putting it here (mods feel free to put in bike/ped news) but it's amazing how easy it can be to put infrastructure in:

 

 

https://www.bikecleveland.org/bike-cle/news/new-harvard-avenue-cycletrack/2024/10/