FYI

 

MetroHealth's ambitious campus makeover may be push West 25th Street needs

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,29115.msg720075.html#msg720075

W. 25th Transit Oriented Development Strategy

 

 

VISION STATEMENT

To define a transit development strategy that improves livability and commerce along the West 25th Street corridor by connecting regional assets, serving major employers, and addressing the needs of residents, current and future.

 

TIMELINE

We expect this process to be concluded in late Fall and well in advance of the 2015 construction cycle and development subsidy application processes.

 

ROLE IN CORRIDOR INITIATIVE

The broader initiative is about how we strengthen the greater community. This effort is focused on transit infrastructure and housing, specifically. Since it is one of the first major planning efforts within the initiative, however, we hope that this process will jumpstart broader community issues like education, workforce development, and service provision.

Click Here to learn about the broader W. 25th St – Pearl Rd Corridor Initiative.

 

CONSULTANT TEAM

Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Project Facilitator & Planner

4ward Planning, Housing Demand Analysis and Projection

Parsons Brinkerhoff + Baker, Transit Feasibility

 

DELIVERABLES

Housing Needs Projection

Transit Feasibility Analysis

Implementation Strategy

Development Framework

Report

 

PUBLIC MEETING INFO

Working Group Statements of Purpose

Public Meeting #1

 

Date: Saturday, August 16, 2014

Time: 10am – 2pm

Location: Club San Lorenzo (3121 W. 33rd)

Presentation (Not Yet Available)

Notes (Not Yet Available)

 

Public Meeting #2

 

Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Time: 6pm – 8:30pm

Location: Saint Wendelin Catholic Church (2281 Columbus Rd)

Presentation (Not Yet Available)

Notes (Not Yet Available)

 

Public Meeting #3

 

Date: Thursday, October 16, 2014

Time: 6pm – 8:30pm

Location: TBD, Ohio City

Presentation (Not Yet Available)

Notes (Not Yet Available)

 

Public Presentation + Open House

 

Date: TBD

Time: TBD

Location: TBD

Presentation (Not Yet Available)

Notes (Not Yet Available)

They're holding the first meeting at San Lorenzo Club?? OK.

 

Interesting that PB sought this very tiny contract. That tells me a lot. The big engineering firms like PB usually avoid the small-scale conceptual stuff like those funded by $75,000 NOACA TLCI grants. This is only a $10,000 study yet PB pursued it (as did other big firms, I've since heard) which now puts PB at the front of the line for any follow-up environmental planning and engineering. They expect this little study to turn into something much more significant.

Speaking of PB.....

 

Parsons Brinckerhoff ‏@ValueCapture  7m

RT @EMBARQNetwork: Are streetcars worth the investment? How they stack up v #BRT and metro http://bit.ly/1sRVKBp 

They're holding the first meeting at San Lorenzo Club?? OK.

 

Interesting that PB sought this very tiny contract. That tells me a lot. The big engineering firms like PB usually avoid the small-scale conceptual stuff like those funded by $75,000 NOACA TLCI grants. This is only a $10,000 study yet PB pursued it (as did other big firms, I've since heard) which now puts PB at the front of the line for any follow-up environmental planning and engineering. They expect this little study to turn into something much more significant.

 

Like what?  Care to speculate?

Like what?  Care to speculate?

 

Like a BRT or streetcar.

Like what?  Care to speculate?

 

Like a BRT or streetcar.

 

Interesting... As a previously-cited article noted, FTA has been funding a bunch of Streetcar projects in recent years (including Cincy's -- yay!).  My only concern for W. 25th would be streetcars going through the Market Square area where it often is (happily) very congested, with cars, buses and other vehicles crawling along.

... but as to BRT, does PB consult/engineer bus-based projects or strictly rail which, of course, has been their century-plus specialty.

Interesting... As a previously-cited article noted, FTA has been funding a bunch of Streetcar projects in recent years (including Cincy's -- yay!).  My only concern for W. 25th would be streetcars going through the Market Square area where it often is (happily) very congested, with cars, buses and other vehicles crawling along.

 

The streetcar will help alleviate that. There are eight bus routes totaling 83 buses per hour during peak times passing through the Lorain-West 25th intersection, many of which are stopping at the corner for passengers to board/alight. Traffic backs up behind the buses.

 

If a streetcar operates every 10 minutes, that's six streetcars in each direction per hour or 12 streetcars/hour total. It is quite likely that significant portions of the 20, 21, 35, 45A and 51 could be enhanced with a faster streetcar with expedited boarding, fare collection, signal preemption, and a smoother ride. Portions of the 22, 79A/B and 81 routes could also be redesigned to connect with the streetcar.

 

And maybe a couple of the routes like the 51, 79 and 81 might be left as-is. The 51 comes north up West 25 to Lorain-Carnegie east (and reverse) which could instead take a shortcut up Gehring Avenue past the Red Line station to avoid the busy intersection. And the 79 and 81 run only half-hourly all day so their replacement where their routes would duplicate the streetcar's would have limited benefit.

 

So 83 buses per hour could be reduced to 12 higher-capacity streetcars per hour plus eight buses per hour traveling north of Lorain on West 25th. That's a significant reduction in vehicles while simultaneously raising the transit seating capacity and vehicular throughout capacity.

 

... but as to BRT, does PB consult/engineer bus-based projects or strictly rail which, of course, has been their century-plus specialty.

 

They do bus, rail, urban placemaking, major utilities, dams, highways, skyscrapers, etc. Anything that gets built, they do.

PB could be a bad thing.  I am hopeful that this is being led by the community not by RTA. 

 

this will fail if RTA wants to use a heavy rail hybrid car like was proposed for the Rapid+ Streetcar on the Redline extension study.

 

What We feel is needed for West 25th street are Low floor Articulated Tram vehicles that are within the 20,000-25,000lbs axle load range and width between 2.54-2.65m (8'-8'8" wide) the proposed Rapid plus streetcar was Over 10' wide!!! buses are 8'4" wide and the Blue/green LRT are 9'4" wide.

 

Narrower cars:

Are Lighter

Require less Road space

Blend easier with a mixed- traffic environment.

Lower costs of everything, stations, bridges, shallower Rail slab, everything.

 

For the Record 2.65 is the Global standard for Light Rail vehicles, all new LRT systems built after 1980 use vehicles 2.65m wide.

An educational effort among community stakeholders is needed. Maybe even a "fact-finding trip" to Washington D.C., Cincinnati or other community with a modern streetcar in operation or construction.

Here's my live-tweeting from Saturday's public meeting.....

 

All Aboard Ohio @AllAboardOhio  ·  Aug 16

At West 25th Transit Development Strategy public mtg at San Lorenzo Club led by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress Inc. About 35 citizens here.

 

Study to define transit service type desired for W25 from Detroit Ave to zoo. Will present recommendations in 3 months.

 

Transit would connect major assets, employers, destinations. Corridor is 5 miles long. Actually south end is downtown Old Brooklyn.

 

How much housing is in study area, types, prices, etc. What funding is available?

 

Transit options to consider for W25: existing bus, to BRT all the way up to fixed rail (streetcar or light rail).

 

Study team for W25 corridor plan is Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, 4Ward Planning, Baker, Parsons Brinckerhoff.

 

W25 corridor study funders: Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Enterprise, Cleveland Foundation. Will build on other planning.

 

W25 study steering committee includes @GCRTA, major employers & stakeholders in the corridor.

 

Initial goal is to submit funding applications to Ohio Housing Finance agency this winter and develop W25 housing as early as next year.

 

Follow-on W25 Cleveland transit investment strategy will take 3-7 years to carry out. A transit "re-branding" effort could occur in months.

 

West 25th Transit Development Strategy study documents will be posted at http://www.clevelandnp.org/w25  #Cleveland

 

Crowded buses on Cleveland's West 25th all day w/ up to 80 buses/hour. Yet 12 streetcars/hour have same seating capacity, lower labor costs.

 

At West 25th Transit Development Strategy public mtg at San Lorenzo Club led by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress Inc.

Redline/HL Study ‏@RedlineHLStudy  1m

New video describing #RedLineHeathlineStudy Alternatives is up http://redlinehealthlinestudy.com/ , along with more info #CLE #Transit #Euclid #ECleve

They aren't running their extension to abandoned malls and the backs of factories.

 

Yep. But the point being is that this what Cleveland rail projects are competing with for federal funding. Sure, the Red Line extension meets federal funding criteria. It doesn't mean it's actually going to receive any money.

 

This isn't an excuse for not competing for federal funding.

 

I guess we sucks soo much we shouldn't compete for anything.

They aren't running their extension to abandoned malls and the backs of factories.

You do hope there would be some TOD if this happens.

Sure, but there's already plenty of Red Line stops with TOD potential untapped.  If we're going to extend lines, we should extend them to someplace that can generate demand in it's present state.

^good point

They aren't running their extension to abandoned malls and the backs of factories.

 

Also understand the fundamentals of transit Networks,

 

The more Places you go the more likely people are to use it.

 

so in DC you can get on the the metro and have access to millions of jobs and places to live work and play. 

 

The network of metro lines.

 

This network goes everywhere, is fast frequent and reliable. So every extension of the network draws upon the destinations the network already serves.

 

the same thing here except < 10% of regional jobs are within waling distance of a Rail station so the number of worker able to use the network is small, in DC I guess that number is closer to >50.

 

Access does matter.

Sure, but there's already plenty of Red Line stops with TOD potential untapped.  If we're going to extend lines, we should extend them to someplace that can generate demand in it's present state.

 

Except that few places that rail transit can extend to are walkable and thus are not comfortable settings for transit to reach. Ideally, we'd want to extend rail transit to a job center that's somewhat pedestrian friendly and, following the extension of transit, can be modified at little expense to become much more pedestrian friendly.

 

Furthermore, the reason why the Red Line extension, even as expensive as it would be, would meet federal funding criteria is because of commuter inflows to UC and moreso because of downtown. The reverse commutes are icing.

 

And let's not kid ourselves, to make a serious dent in the awful stat that only 27% of Greater Cleveland jobs are within a 90 minute transit trip of a Greater Clevelander would require a major adjustment of policies, planning and funding. Not only do we need more projects like the Red Line extension as well as less expensive services such as reverse-commute express buses on highways, but we also need to shift public subsidies away from supporting outward suburban sprawl to bring jobs back to the doughnut hole. But this should be done systematically, starting with a service goal, such as my 90-90 concept: 90 percent of jobs should be within a 90-minute transit trip in Greater Cleveland.

Sure, but there's already plenty of Red Line stops with TOD potential untapped.  If we're going to extend lines, we should extend them to someplace that can generate demand in it's present state.

 

Except that few places that rail transit can extend to are walkable and thus are not comfortable settings for transit to reach. Ideally, we'd want to extend rail transit to a job center that's somewhat pedestrian friendly and, following the extension of transit, can be modified at little expense to become much more pedestrian friendly.

 

Furthermore, the reason why the Red Line extension, even as expensive as it would be, would meet federal funding criteria is because of commuter inflows to UC and moreso because of downtown. The reverse commutes are icing.

 

And let's not kid ourselves, to make a serious dent in the awful stat that only 27% of Greater Cleveland jobs are within a 90 minute transit trip of a Greater Clevelander would require a major adjustment of policies, planning and funding. Not only do we need more projects like the Red Line extension as well as less expensive services such as reverse-commute express buses on highways, but we also need to shift public subsidies away from supporting outward suburban sprawl to bring jobs back to the doughnut hole. But this should be done systematically, starting with a service goal, such as my 90-90 concept: 90 percent of jobs should be within a 90-minute transit trip in Greater Cleveland.

 

90-90 concept: 90 percent of jobs should be within a 90-minute transit trip in Greater Cleveland.

 

I like it.

 

Here is a Thought:

 

Is it a realistic to pursue the wholesale abandonment of exurban areas?  Is this a better regional strategy than encouraging the abandonment of urban areas for the Exurbs?  In our region with Zero Growth Our development pattern is more like musical Chairs than growth.

 

We will not see areas like Avon and Medina disappear over night, but we can work to prevent the next Avon and Medina from forming and work to make those areas develop in a less sprawling way.

 

What I'd like to see is a more holistic approach where work to prevent the areas like Westlake and Beachwood from becoming the next north Randall, Euclid or Parma and focuses on increasing Regional Growth and making sure that growth is in areas where Transit is strong.

 

Redline Extension is important but it cannot be the  the end of outward expansion of the rail network.

PUBLIC MEETINGS NOTICE - W. 25th Street transit development strategy, see notice attached for meetings on 9/16... http://t.co/Zk2aLOCJOR

KJP[/member] I don't see you at the meeting right now.  We need you!

KJP[/member] I don't see you at the meeting right now.  We need you!

 

How did the meeting go?

KJP[/member] I don't see you at the meeting right now.  We need you!

 

How did the meeting go?

 

It went well.  There was a transit consultant present from Baker and another from Parsons-Brinckerhoff.  The consultant from Parsons-Brinkerhoff gave an opening address about the realistic possibilities along the corridor.  He showed some graphs/charts indicating that although the corridor is home to many bus lines, ridership has been recently growing.  It was then that a gentleman in a wheelchair raised his hand and told the crowd that during peak hours, the buses are so full that he cannot get on.  Overall, it was hard to get excited because the consultant from PB told us that the residential density along the corridor would not support rail and there are not the financial resources to do a major transit overhaul (F U ODOT).  I wasn't in the transit working group so I wasn't able to speak with the consultants directly.

KJP[/member] I don't see you at the meeting right now.  We need you!

 

I've been fighting a wicked cold these last few days. Who was the rep from PB? Was it Tim Rosenberger?

KJP[/member] I don't see you at the meeting right now.  We need you!

 

I've been fighting a wicked cold these last few days. Who was the rep from PB? Was it Tim Rosenberger?

 

It was indeed Tim Rosenberger.

If more development is the goal for West 25th, then why do current land use conditions matter as the motivator of the transportation mode selected?

 

Even if land use condition shouldn't dictate them, current transportation use should. As I tweeted previously, and did so again tonight, already-crowded buses on Cleveland's West 25th are common all day and are scheduled with up to 80 buses/hour. Yet 12 streetcars/hour have same seating capacity, lower labor costs. And that's before any development occurs along this road.

 

I think I detect GCRTA's biases infiltrating this process.

REMINDER!

 

Public Meeting Notice: Share your thoughts on the future of housing and transit along W. 25th/Pearl. Thursday, Oct. 16. 6-8:30 p.m. at Great Lakes Brewing Co., 2701 Carroll Avenue http://fb.me/2o7uvCyoC

 

This will surprise nobody, but RTA has apparently decided on upgraded bus service for W. 25:

 

clifton boulevard-style transit eyed for 25th street corridor

erin o'brien | Wednesday, January 21, 2015

 

"To meet those needs, the study concludes that a transit system similar to the Cleveland State Line, which runs along Clifton Boulevard, would be the best fit. Mortensen cites the line's frequency, improved waiting environments and a dedicated bus lane during certain times of the day. The line is also branded."

 

http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/west25th012115.aspx

:clap: :clap:(I'll pretend I read "street car")

This will surprise nobody, but RTA has apparently decided on upgraded bus service for W. 25:

 

 

Nope, not a surprise at all -- not when GCRTA goes into an analysis by making the unobjective statement "streetcars are toys." Or when they dismiss without analysis that streetcars with 2-4 times the seating capacity of a bus can provide as much passenger capacity at a lower operating cost than running many more smaller buses with more drivers. Fact is, far too many GCRTA still view Cleveland as a dying city and therefore incapable of using value-capture from transit-oriented development as a funding source to build and sustain a streetcar line. So they look only at what they can sustain with their existing, declining sales tax. Using past trendlines to shape future policies only preserves those trendlines. Ask a GCRTA planner why they're doing something a certain way, rather than how other cities create growth with transit investment and their answer is "This is Cleveland, we don't do that here."

Boy that's depressing. But then again, Ohio usually isn't very forward thinking and Cleveland definitely isn't.

Nope, not a surprise at all -- not when GCRTA goes into an analysis by making the unobjective statement "streetcars are toys." Or when they dismiss without analysis that streetcars with 2-4 times the seating capacity of a bus can provide as much passenger capacity at a lower operating cost than running many more smaller buses with more drivers. Fact is, far too many GCRTA still view Cleveland as a dying city and therefore incapable of using value-capture from transit-oriented development as a funding source to build and sustain a streetcar line. So they look only at what they can sustain with their existing, declining sales tax. Using past trendlines to shape future policies only preserves those trendlines. Ask a GCRTA planner why they're doing something a certain way, rather than how other cities create growth with transit investment and their answer is "This is Cleveland, we don't do that here."

 

This is unacceptable.

 

And the rational basis for the decision seems narrow and flawed; it's like they're designing the service solely around people who have no other choice but to rely on public transit.

 

Mayor Frank Jackson wants Cleveland to be a city of choice. I think GCRTA needs to strive to be transportation of choice too, not of last resort.

In my opinion, I would rather see a streetcar along Detroit versus W 25th.  There's a ton of momentum along Detroit for practically 50 blocks (25th to 75th), then shortly after that, your in Lakewood.  I love the W25th street corridor through Ohio City, but South of Lorain from Denisson up to 90 is going to take much more than a streetcar to promote gentrification...JMHO.  A streetcar along Detroit would just continue and enhance the momentum there currently.  Money better spent in my book if we had an option. 

In my opinion, I would rather see a streetcar along Detroit versus W 25th.  There's a ton of momentum along Detroit for practically 50 blocks (25th to 75th), then shortly after that, your in Lakewood.  I love the W25th street corridor through Ohio City, but South of Lorain from Denisson up to 90 is going to take much more than a streetcar to promote gentrification...JMHO.  A streetcar along Detroit would just continue and enhance the momentum there currently.  Money better spent in my book if we had an option. 

 

There has been significant interest in that very idea from the CDCs and others, and a funding source for the idea was gaining momentum. Then the West 25th study came along. The streetcar makes economic sense because numerous duplicative bus routes converge into West 25th from Old Brooklyn northward. Replacing them with a streetcar running every 10 minutes on the West 25th portion would reduce traffic from dozens of buses per hour and reduce operating costs -- something that GCRTA has disagreed with absent doing any analysis to refute our data. All I ask for is a $100,000 feasibility study by streetcar expert hdrinc.com to determine its viability. PB is the West 25th consultant but, like RTA, they also came into this study frowning on a streetcar. A consultant is supposed to come into a project without preconceived modal preferences. In fact, it's a federal requirement.

This will surprise nobody, but RTA has apparently decided on upgraded bus service for W. 25:

 

 

Nope, not a surprise at all -- not when GCRTA goes into an analysis by making the unobjective statement "streetcars are toys." Or when they dismiss without analysis that streetcars with 2-4 times the seating capacity of a bus can provide as much passenger capacity at a lower operating cost than running many more smaller buses with more drivers. Fact is, far too many GCRTA still view Cleveland as a dying city and therefore incapable of using value-capture from transit-oriented development as a funding source to build and sustain a streetcar line. So they look only at what they can sustain with their existing, declining sales tax. Using past trendlines to shape future policies only preserves those trendlines. Ask a GCRTA planner why they're doing something a certain way, rather than how other cities create growth with transit investment and their answer is "This is Cleveland, we don't do that here."

 

For all the positive energy Cleveland is generating by and through private developers, public agencies and through elected officials (Frank Jackson's done a good job in this light), it's totally discouraging that our transit officials are such a drag to progress with this type of attitude.  Streetcars should at least be considered.  These people really need to be exposed.  To me, the particular transit mode chosen for W. 25th isn't so much the issue as the attitude of management who, if I had a say-so, they'd be replaced.  RTA sounds like it's run by modern day Albert S. Porters.

Hopefully, the Cincinnati Streetcar is a  success and will cause state officials in Columbus as well as local officials in Cleveland and elsewhere, to take a second look.

We need to organize fact-finding missions down to Cincinnati next year. Ironically, they want to come up here and see what we're doing with downtown residential development. So let's do a cultural and educational exchange!

I've long said that RTA is a poorly run organization who uses their lack of funding as a shield

Lots of jobs available - Start the change from within

 

 

Available Jobs

Lots of jobs available - Start the change from within

 

 

Available Jobs

 

you only go so far in a Work envroment like RTA. I know of many good people who have left because of the Culture there.

So apparently GCRTA is making a pitch to local and state officials to get up to $500 million from the state for the Red Line extension to Euclid. They don't have a lot of hope of getting it, but if they do, they have more hope of getting $500 million from the Federal Transit Administration. The key is to get local leaders to make the case to the state the Red Line extension will be more beneficial to Northeast Ohio's economy than the Opportunity Corridor.

Good to see some effort.

So apparently GCRTA is making a pitch to local and state officials to get up to $500 million from the state for the Red Line extension to Euclid. They don't have a lot of hope of getting it, but if they do, they have more hope of getting $500 million from the Federal Transit Administration. The key is to get local leaders to make the case to the state the Red Line extension will be more beneficial to Northeast Ohio's economy than the Opportunity Corridor.

 

Kasich made the case for spending $330M for 3.5 miles of OC to Cleveland Clinic, including raising Turnpike tolls to fund it, so you'd think there's a stronger case imho for this rail extension... It would be great if a coalition of stakeholders could be put together such as Frank Jackson, EC mayor Gary Norton, UCI's Chris Ronayne, GE (Nela Park), Jeff Johnson (Ward 10), Mike Polansek, Ward 8, Euclid mayor Bill Cervenik, UH among others.  While I know Federal funding, as did the study, looks at the walkable areas near future rail stations, one would think UH, for example, might be motivated to join in support if it could have a train line drop NE suburban commuter/hospital personnel dropped right at UH's door -- it's the fastest most direct shot from the County line area... If enough, and the right, people speak up for this project, it can happen I believe... Your 90 - 90 concept should be a talking point as well.

Lots of local heavy hitters (Clinic, UH, GCP, GE, UC's philanthropic community, etc) would have to get behind it first. That's what is being explored right now. If they won't back it, then the rail or even possibly the BRT option won't go anywhere (just as the Blue Line extension express bus option to Harvard-UC hasn't garnered any local interest).

^That's good to know.  Hopefully people with a lot of energy and zeal are behind this (personally, I'd love someone like Chris Ronayne ... I know he's not a transit guy per se but, damn, with a resume like his, ie Uptown, Intesa, Little Italy relocation, etc, I'd definitely put my chips on the Red Line if he's at least solidly on board)... I'm heartened that a coalition is coming together to back a transit line, which doesn't happen every here... The last time was the WFL which, as you well know, had so much local support that it was built without Federal $$.

Planners looking at high-end bus-transit line for West 25th Street

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio --  West 25th Street pulses with new bistros and restaurants, and work gets underway next year on a $400 million overhaul of its biggest anchor, MetroHealth Medical Center's main campus.

 

From Detroit Avenue to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and on to the neighborhood of Old Brooklyn, the 3.8-mile West 25th Street corridor ranks as one of the most traveled north-south arteries in Cleveland.

 

A "lite" version of bus-rapid transit -- that would look and act a lot like the new Cleveland State Line that runs along Clifton Boulevard -- would be the best fit  for West 25th and would help transform and invigorate the avenue even further, a new study concludes

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/02/lite_bus-rapid_transit_tailore.html#incart_river

Planners looking at high-end bus-transit line for West 25th Street

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio --  West 25th Street pulses with new bistros and restaurants, and work gets underway next year on a $400 million overhaul of its biggest anchor, MetroHealth Medical Center's main campus.

 

From Detroit Avenue to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and on to the neighborhood of Old Brooklyn, the 3.8-mile West 25th Street corridor ranks as one of the most traveled north-south arteries in Cleveland.

 

A "lite" version of bus-rapid transit -- that would look and act a lot like the new Cleveland State Line that runs along Clifton Boulevard -- would be the best fit  for West 25th and would help transform and invigorate the avenue even further, a new study concludes

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/02/lite_bus-rapid_transit_tailore.html#incart_river

 

It's not a federally compliant alternatives analysis so for them to come to conclusions on modal choice, not only is it premature it may not be legal.

^I would certainly agree, but didn't RTA take the same approach with regard to the Lakewood-CSU bus "upgrade"?  I don't recall any alternatives analysis done for it.