The shelters are on the curbs, yes, but they're building a giant median in the middle, which looks like it only makes room for a bus lane, and two traffic lanes (or one traffic lane and a turn lane), but I could be wrong.

 

But not all the way through East Cleveland.

What the heck, a photo from yesterday from Public Square:

 

guys were furiously putting signage up all over the place today... pretty cool.  i'll snap some pics tomorrow.

^Not more US Interstate signage I hope!  (I see that green monster peaking through in MayDay's shot)

That's an awesome photo MayDay. Zoom-zoom-zoom!

There was a nice little crowd of people outside of Key Tower taking photos of one of the HealthLine buses on display.

There was a BRT conference in Cleveland Monday and Tuesday, and visitors from several foreign countries were here to see how we do what we do. Thus, the photos.

Latest corridor update:

 

1.  First, someone is going to have to explain to me why this crosswalk entry was constructed like this at 12th and Euclid.  I am an "observer" by nature (read, my eyes wander everywhere except in front of me), and I have almost broken my ankles on this thing several times.

2.  Apparently I am not alone, as they have had to put trash cans on either side to keep people from falling on their face.  Why this wasn't built out like every other crosswalk entry on the corridor is beyond me.

3.  The last great hole of the Euclid Corridor (on the North side of the 13th street station)

4.  Insert flowers and plants here.

5.  Looking out of a shelter at the East 9th station reminding idiots everywhere to exit the station properly and use a crosswalk, not to just dart across the street.

6.  One of the new "District" graphics has gone on the side of the station map stand.

7. The sidewalks on the North side of the street are now progressing quickly... here in front of Nat City.

8.  Maybe my favorite sign ever.  They might as well just add an arrow pointing backwards... Translation = Go where ever the fuck you want from this lane.

Are they putting those district signs all over the city in different districts?

i have seen so many people bite it on that crosswalk, I still laugh every time.

Are they putting those district signs all over the city in different districts?

well... if by all over the city you mean at each stop of the ECP, then yes.  ;)

i have seen so many people bite it on that crosswalk, I still laugh every time.

only once has it actually brought me down... but i've easily stumbled 3-4 additional times. And I know it's there!

That crosswalk curb cut is truly bizarre.  Any theories why it wouldn't line up with the crosswalk width?

 

And what on earth is the "Downtown District"?  Don't we just call our downtown..."Downtown"?  Graphics/urban planning run amok, IMHO.

Why is it the downtown district?  Isn't that part of either gateway or civic?  They need to stop renaming districts!!!!

That crosswalk curb cut is truly bizarre.  Any theories why it wouldn't line up with the crosswalk width?

 

And what on earth is the "Downtown District"?  Don't we just call our downtown..."Downtown"?  Graphics/urban planning run amok, IMHO.

 

Apparently they didn't consult with the HBIC!

Why is it the downtown district?  Isn't that part of either gateway or civic?  They need to stop renaming districts!!!!

You mean creating districts that conflict with current districts!  Hell they could have just said "Central Business District" or "downtown" as Strap mentioned.

 

This is where they could have take a play from the NYC subway sytem and placed a neighborhood map in each station. 

maybe we're expecting an influx of Charlotte tourists and need to remind them that tall buildings=downtown, not uptown. 

 

Nonetheless, downtown would suffice.  Between PHS/CSU and Public Square, there's only a few stops anyways.  One can't get too lost or confused.

 

Can't wait to see the landscaping in the medians downtown and tenants in the 515 retail spaces!

More importantly, let's just hope there are so many people along Euclid, we won't even notice these signs!  Imagine it... 8-)

^Funny, that sign does seem to be geared towards tourists.  Though if I were a tourist, I think I'd prefer a ticket vending machine that dispensed change.

my guess is since the line crosses the central business district, the gateway district, and the civic center district, they thought they would make that one easy and call it the downtown district.  The playhouse square area stops obviously will have the theatre district... midtown district, etc.  On one of the RTA ECP PDF's posted on here somewhere where they talk about public art, it shows them all.

 

MTS the front of these hold the area map, similar to most of the way finding stations around town.  So really it does both.  I should have snapped a pic.  maybe tomorrow.

^Thanks for the photos, McCleveland, I loooooove seeing the progress on this thing!  I'll never understand the need planners have to designate every square inch of the city as some sort of "district" and then erect signs about them.  Small detail though.

 

By the way, the ECP got a shout-out from a popular New York livable streets blog, which saw the Chicago Tribune article.  They butchered some of the facts, but it's still good press.  The chief editor of the site is from Cleveland Height I think, but he didn't write the post.

 

http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/07/14/clevelands-health-line-setting-a-national-example-for-bus-rapid-transit/

http://www.euclidtransit.org/ECTP_documents/Community%20Update%20022807%20MJS.pdf

 

pages 63-64 show the "district" signage.

Does 515 have tenants lined up or what? I know it didnt make any sense for tenants to move in there during the middle of construction on the corridor. Anyone have any information on this, and if tenants are lined up, when we might start seeing them start the move.

Does 515 have tenants lined up or what? I know it didnt make any sense for tenants to move in there during the middle of construction on the corridor. Anyone have any information on this, and if tenants are lined up, when we might start seeing them start the move.

 

I don't think so, but when we here something.......

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,13891.0.html

Yes, when we here something we will post it hear:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,13891.0.html

Yes, when we here something we will post it hear:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,13891.0.html

 

lol.

kids....

http://www.euclidtransit.org/ECTP_documents/Community%20Update%20022807%20MJS.pdf

 

pages 63-64 show the "district" signage.

 

Thanks, now I remember that presentation.  Lots of good stuff for the uninitiated on how the roadways and stations will work.  And sadly, I see that I made the same type of comment about the "district" signage on page 20 of this very thread when that presentation was first released.  Sad how crappy my memory is.

http://www.euclidtransit.org/ECTP_documents/Community%20Update%20022807%20MJS.pdf

 

pages 63-64 show the "district" signage.

 

Thanks, now I remember that presentation.  Lots of good stuff for the uninitiated on how the roadways and stations will work.  And sadly, I see that I made the same type of comment about the "district" signage on page 20 of this very thread when that presentation was first released.  Sad how crappy my memory is.

Fossil!  I did the same thing.

^Thanks for the photos, McCleveland, I loooooove seeing the progress on this thing!  I'll never understand the need planners have to designate every square inch of the city as some sort of "district" and then erect signs about them.  Small detail though.

 

By the way, the ECP got a shout-out from a popular New York livable streets blog, which saw the Chicago Tribune article.  They butchered some of the facts, but it's still good press.  The chief editor of the site is from Cleveland Height I think, but he didn't write the post.

 

http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/07/14/clevelands-health-line-setting-a-national-example-for-bus-rapid-transit/

 

This is a great article, by the way.

So how much of the suggested public art is actually going in?  I know at least the trashcans are :)

I know at least the trashcans are :)

 

Mainly to keep pedestrians from tripping on curbs.

So how much of the suggested public art is actually going in?  I know at least the trashcans are :)

 

There hasnt been a ton of info on this, but from what I understand, there are 3 things that will be happening yet that are part of the public art budget:

Something going in the median at Playhouse square that resembles a chorus line....  I can't remember... it may involve neon...

 

Then something in the median at University Circle that resembles a rock garden....?

 

Then something at the East Cleveland end.....

If nobody else posts, I will look for later....

So how much of the suggested public art is actually going in? I know at least the trashcans are :)

 

There hasnt been a ton of info on this, but from what I understand, there are 3 things that will be happening yet that are part of the public art budget:

Something going in the median at Playhouse square that resembles a chorus line.... I can't remember... it may involve neon...

 

Then something in the median at University Circle that resembles a rock garden....?

 

Then something at the East Cleveland end.....

If nobody else posts, I will look for later....

 

Great.  Now the song "One" is stuck in my head.  And there's plenty of room for something at Euclid and East Blvd.  That median there is frickin huge!

Something going in the median at Playhouse square that resembles a chorus line....  I can't remember... it may involve neon...

 

You're starting to scare me.

Something going in the median at Playhouse square that resembles a chorus line.... I can't remember... it may involve neon...

 

You're starting to scare me.

 

I wouldn't mind neon, but only in that particular part of the corridor mind you.  When I'm on that part of Euclid, I feel like I'm not, well, in Cleveland cause of the flashy things that are already there :)

So how much of the suggested public art is actually going in?  I know at least the trashcans are :)

 

Then something in the median at University Circle that resembles a rock garden....?

 

Yes it's something along those lines - I saw the graphic from peeking over Steve Litt's shoulder at a UC design review meeting - the public doesn't get copies :( so I can't offer anymore, but that's what it is.

wow.  It's amazing how much got done today since lunch.  Streetsweepers were flying everywhere getting ready for next monday's opening.  The brick crew was finishing up the sidewalks all the way to the end of the nat city building and a cement truck was moving along emptying cement in the medians (so they no longer look like bottomless pits.  Bike racks had been installed in front of the Colonial Marketplace.  I do believe that by the end of tomorrow the only things left to do downtown will essentially be brickwork and landscaping.

 

Also regarding the public art those "things change" benches are going up on the sidewalk in front of the BP building (200 PS).

Euclid just officially opened from 9th to public square!

Euclid just officially opened from 9th to public square!

Photos?  You're slacking.  lol

:cry: :cry: :cry: 

 

Tears of extreme joy!    :-)

 

I remember when HOB opened on Euclid a few years ago...It was the first time in my life I could remember a new, healthy storefront on that street.  I had just began school in Chicago and I was so excited to have something begin to resemble a Michigan Ave. or any healthy thoroughfare for that matter!

 

Naysayers, fermez la bouche! :clap:

I went downtown yesterday to check out the progress.  Other than some sidewalk work here and there and putting the finishing touches on the center dividers, it looks pretty much done between public square and E. 9.

 

I saw more building renovation work underway.  There were crews working in the old Halle/May Co. building (at least if I'm remembering right, it's that building), but that's probably not news (I haven't been down there for a couple of months, so it is to me).  The project seems to be coming together well. 

That would be the May Company building and the Cadillac Ranch bar/restaurant.

Cross-posted from the GCRTA thread.....

 

The overhead electric power supply to the Euclid Corridor would have been WAY overbuilt. It's why I posted pictures elsewhere here on the differences between the extent of infrastructure (called catenaries) for supporting the overhead wires, using the Shaker Rapid and the Pittsburgh T for the rail examples and the Dayton trolley for the bus examples. The Euclid Corridor catenaries would have been more like those for the Shaker Rapid or Pittsburgh -- that was totally overbuilt for a bus rapid transit line.

 

But few can distinguish between the extent of catenaries and think that the choice is between $33 million or nothing. There is a myriad of options and costs in between them that were never investigated, to my knowledge.

After doing the Shaker Square farmers market followed by lunch at Yours Truly, we drove down the Corridor Saturday from 89th all the way to Public Square.  There was one lane you could use between E9th and the Square.  One of the new articulated buses was parked on the East Roadway.  Also, it looked like connector streets near Cleveland Clinic near that huge new garage on Carnegie, were nearing completion.  Note: on the way, we blundered into the Quincy Ave rehab, but made it through to E89th with shock absorbers intact, lol.

Does anyone know what the crane on the south side of the "Healthline" is doing?  It is a rather large crane near the 40th block of Euclid.  If I recall, it looked to be behind NEORSD's building. 

Oh, and also, I saw that the 4600 rehab is coming along.

Cross-posted from the GCRTA thread.....

 

The overhead electric power supply to the Euclid Corridor would have been WAY overbuilt. It's why I posted pictures elsewhere here on the differences between the extent of infrastructure (called catenaries) for supporting the overhead wires, using the Shaker Rapid and the Pittsburgh T for the rail examples and the Dayton trolley for the bus examples. The Euclid Corridor catenaries would have been more like those for the Shaker Rapid or Pittsburgh -- that was totally overbuilt for a bus rapid transit line.

 

But few can distinguish between the extent of catenaries and think that the choice is between $33 million or nothing. There is a myriad of options and costs in between them that were never investigated, to my knowledge.

 

As I've said, w/ light trolley wires and rails, this could be easily converted to rail and dropped into a short tunnel from E. 14th jogging under Huron to Tower City and the Rapid hub then out the Detroit Superior Bridge... I know subway is a dirty word in Cleveland (not in tiny Buffalo or smaller-than-Cleveland Pittsburgh, but here, somehow) ...

 

... heck, over 1/2 of the subway portion of such a line is already built.  Obviously the 2/3-mile Detroit/Vet Mem Bridge subway exists complete w/ a station at W.25/Detroit... then (as KJP has noted) it could jog over to the Red Line and into Tower City where a vacant/unused (except for antique trolley storage) Shaker Rapid Station sits gathering dust... Then there's the tunnel-beginning off the Shaker/Red Line under Ontario up Huron; also gathering dust...

 

Thus, only one underground station need be built, at/between Playhouse Sq and E. 9th -- this could have really kick-started office re-growth in the area, much more than ECP which, still, in commuters' minds is still a bus and lacks the permanence of rail...

 

... and has been noted, RTA's bad move of junking electric trolley wires only adds to this... so w/ all the platforms and "stations" in place, why shouldn't ECP be a candidate for conversion to something like what Dual-Hub was aiming for in the 1st place?

 

Can we please let this thing open first?  It's not LRT, HRT, or whatever so let's move on and invest our energy, time, and even $(even if it's at a cafe on Euclid) to make this thing a huge success.  Maybe then, we can incorporate a more "alternative energy" mode of transportation.  Hell, look at all of the EXISTING RAIL in this city that is literally and figuratively being p*ssed on.  We struggle at maximizing those opportunities...

 

Oh, and for the love of God, Jerry or Jettdog PLEASE tell me that the new healthline busses will not have the same automated voice stop announcement thing that the current busses/trains have!  It's like the new Boeing 787s having cassette disk slots and floppy disk drives.  I haven't ridden on the new busses yet...

on the topic of the "district" maps, I noticed these yesterday on my ride downtown and was excited to see them.  I'd forgotten what was going to happen with the two blank sides of these structures on each platform.  It wasn't until I got an up-close look at a few of them that my excitement turned to disappointment.  I guess I'll have to wait and see what additional maps are provided at each station before I can make a full assessment of this, but the maps that they've just put up are pretty worthless.  They have "landmarks" plotted on them, but these landmarks are not identified, nor are the cross streets.  Again, this may play out further with the interactive kiosks or more detailed neighborhood maps, so I hope I'm premature here!

Oh, and for the love of God, Jerry or Jettdog PLEASE tell me that the new healthline busses will not have the same automated voice stop announcement thing that the current busses/trains have!  It's like the new Boeing 787s having cassette disk slots and floppy disk drives.  I haven't ridden on the new busses yet...

 

The green/blue lines don't have automated stop announcements.. it's just the operator announcing the stop in a mumbled half-tone.