^for .3 miles!? ... It's an important extension because it would serve commuters on the other side of the intersection through the TOD development.  Amazing, taxpayer money flows freely for urban highways we don't need like the 5 mi/$300+M OC, yet we can't get funds for a needed .3 mile rail expansion.  How bassackwards as a community are we?...  I'm sure Joe Calabrese won't lose any sleep over it.

 

Sometimes I feel Cleveland should just convert its entire rail system to buses (call them BRT) and be done with it.  A lot less aggravation for our leaders (notably the transit chief) who feel the Rapid is just a luxurious, expensive headache serving mainly students and poor people -- the former often the latter.

Oh, you should meet RTA's new government affairs director. He is the opposite of an advocate -- a can't-do guy if I've ever met one.

The September 16th, 9 am RTA Board meeting has a scheduled item related to "2014-91 – Authorizing an interagency agreement with the City of Shaker Heights (link is external)for a Station Area Plan and Traffic Analysis for the Warrensville/Van Aken Station"

 

Somebody sit in on this meeting! I'll try to as well.

 

http://www.riderta.com/news/sept-16-board-and-committee-meetings-set

Whelp the extension across the street looks unlikely, but an intermodal facility at cite of the current station incorporating trains and busses is still in the cards. Also, the TOD will occur around this station.

Whelp the extension across the street looks unlikely, but an intermodal facility at cite of the current station incorporating trains abd busses is still in the cards. Also, the TOD will occur around this station.

 

Who said this and what was their reasoning?

^^I'm guessing this was from RTA Board meeting?  Thanks for the report.  I'm slightly disappointed, I guess, but I don't think it's such a big loss.  That extension probably wasn't going to generate much new ridership, and the pedestrian route from the proposed new terminus to the existing one is going to be a million times easier to navigate with the re-jiggered street pattern.

^^I'm guessing this was from RTA Board meeting?  Thanks for the report.  I'm slightly disappointed, I guess, but I don't think it's such a big loss.  That extension probably wasn't going to generate much new ridership, and the pedestrian route from the proposed new terminus to the existing one is going to be a million times easier to navigate with the re-jiggered street pattern.

 

Yep, that's the impression I got with the board meeting. The FTA, it seems, cannot justify extending the line across an intersection while the current station could also serve as an interchange station. That particular agency-agreement referred to in the meeting means RTA will likely work with Shaker Heights to make the current setup better, along with incorporating developments.

 

Sorry for the scattered updates, school is a thing.

^^I'm guessing this was from RTA Board meeting?  Thanks for the report.  I'm slightly disappointed, I guess, but I don't think it's such a big loss.  That extension probably wasn't going to generate much new ridership, and the pedestrian route from the proposed new terminus to the existing one is going to be a million times easier to navigate with the re-jiggered street pattern.

 

Yes, I figured it was at the board meeting b/c Zak notified us it was going to happen 2 days beforehand, which was appreciated (and if I wasn't 400+ miles away, I would have gone)... If FTA is saying they won't fund it, I won't put it on RTA; and I say "if" because I will be P.O.'d at RTA if they are merely anticipating that FTA won't fund it and, thus, won't even try to apply for the grant -- which is similar to the smoke signals I'm getting from RTA's approach to the Red Line/Euclid Square extension proposal -- just to shoot down rail because they think they won't get it, which is absurd, and...

 

The soon-to-be square, 2-way intersection, makes extending the Blue Line imperative imho because commuters from the Northfield side will be cut off from reaching the Rapid except by crowding through the soon to be much more crowded Warrensville (south) leg to Van Aken (via Farnsleigh) to reach Blue Line trains ... It is much more sensible to simply extend the Rapid ... about 1760 feet!, to a new inter-modal transit center... I sure hope it was FTA and NOT RTA in backing off getting money for this small, but impact-ful, rail expansion...

^^ I heard the same about the transit station not being moved across the street last week during a meeting with some urban planners in the area. Good news is they are looking at other ways to "bridge the gap" a bit... can't say any more than that (don't know any more than that!)

Congress hasn't passed a comprehensive enough transit bill in quite some time. The FTA isn't funding much of anything now, with the exception of TIGER grants, but who knows how long that'll last, too.

 

RTA mentioned it's probably time to look for state funding, especially taking ODOT to task about why they don't fund transit. But that's probably left to that thread.

Well, as I feared, Warrensville Center Road just south of Chagrin is a parking lot--in both directions and both times of the day that I went through it today.

 

I really hope they're planning on re-thinking traffic signals in the area, but I'm not optimistic that there's much that they can do to fix the problem to the point that it's as smooth as it was before. I think that I may just start turning left on to Scottsdale to avoid this mess.

^Yep, I see that from my office and it was a disaster.  Or they need to eliminate one of those signals by the intersection.  There is now three traffic signals within literally 300 feet of each other.

^Yep, I see that from my office and it was a disaster.  Or they need to eliminate one of those signals by the intersection.  There is now three traffic signals within literally 300 feet of each other.

Sounds like every corner here in southeast Florida haha. They must have gotten some FDOT engineers to help out in the brainstorming.

Quick update: It does seem that things have gotten a little better as I suspect they've fixed the actual signal timing to adjust for the fact that Northfield is no longer in use. Still way too much traffic being diverted onto a street that can't handle it, though. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Warrensville Center around there probably needs to be at least three lanes each direction so I hope that that's part of the plan. Otherwise people in the surrounding neighborhoods might seeing much more traffic, even if it's technically illegal for commuters to use those streets. ;)

 

^Yep, I see that from my office and it was a disaster.  Or they need to eliminate one of those signals by the intersection.  There is now three traffic signals within literally 300 feet of each other.

 

Yep, one of those lights is for UH Admin traffic, and the other is for the post office/apartment buildings. But these parking lots both connect (or could easily connect) with the diverted Northfield Road. It probably makes sense to eliminate one light and force those folks to use the Northfield re-route. (Which itself at times is really backed up.)

Email update.......

 

Van Aken on Track

October 15, 2014

 

Repaving of Farnsleigh and Northfield roads in the Van Aken District begins Thursday, October 16. Expect significant truck traffic in the area, especially on Friday, October 17. Access to all businesses in the district will be maintained.

 

Milling of Farnsleigh at Warrensville Center Road begins at 7 am on the 16th and proceeds west and south to Chagrin Boulevard. This portion of work is expected to conclude Friday, October 17 after an intermediate layer of asphalt is put down. Expect traffic disruptions and changing traffic patterns. Motorists traveling through the district to other destinations may wish to consider an alternate route.

 

On Friday, October 17, milling begins on the local access portion of Northfield from Chagrin south to the new roundabout. An intermediate layer of asphalt will be put down on Saturday, the 18th.

 

Paving work on both roads will continue for about a week, depending upon the weather. Traffic updates will be posted to the Construction Zone page at shakeronline.com.

Thank you for your patience, and please drive carefully through the district.

RMS Investment Corp. aims to break ground on $75 million development next year

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/11/rms_investment_corp_aims_to_br.html#incart_related_stories

http://www.shakeronline.com/news-and-events/construction-zone

 

Van Aken on Track

December 2014

 

The new Van Aken district is taking shape. As the first construction season ends, here is an update on the various pain points still at play:

 

1. Traffic along Chagrin between the Warrensville intersection and Farnsleigh in particular, is going to continue to be slow until the end of January. By then, all of the following changes should be in place, improving traffic flow.

Streetscape work in front of the shops (Juma to Lucy's) will be done, opening a full lane of eastbound traffic and including a designated right turn lane into Lomond and to parking for the shops on Chagrin.

Signal equipment that has been located in an eastbound lane on Chagrin, west of Farnsleigh, will be removed opening up a second lane of traffic.

Signal timing will be adjusted (see below).

 

2. The roundabout on Northfield will be finished and (old) Northfield will be completely and permanently closed by mid to late January. At that point, the traffic signal timings will be adjusted, finally easing the traffic along Chagrin.

 

3. During this time of traffic congestion, eastbound travelers going through the Chagrin/Warrensville intersection may find it helpful to head north on Lynnfield to Van Aken, which remains open.

 

Thanks again for understanding that progress requires an extraordinary amount of patience. Your input to the County's Field Office when you encounter a new issue helps them to address it promptly. As a reminder, you can reach them at 216-752-9047.

 

We wish you good health in the New Year!

Going south on Warrensville through this intersection early in the morning is a breeze. The light timing even seems shorter than before, which makes sense.

 

Going north on Warrensville in the afternoon is a nightmare. Traffic is consistently backed up around the "triple lights" right before Chagrin, and people tend to have quite a bit of road rage.

Looks like the 1220 Huron building, an 11-story conversion to apartments in Playhouse Square isn't the only development that Anthony Slyman may have in mind. I was scanning through real estate transfers at https://www.dln.com/realestatetransfers/index and spotted something interesting:

 

On December 30, 2014, a property at 3461 Warrensville Rd, Shaker Heights, OH 44122 (http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/16560515/3461-Warrensville-Center-Rd-Shaker-Hts-OH/) was sold by the Shaker Medical Development Company to a company anonymously called 3461 Shaker LLC for $150,000. It included seven small parcels and was listed for taxes at $900,000. What a deal!

 

So I looked up 3461 Shaker LLC and found that it was formed by Anthony Slyman. I wasn't sure if this was the same Slyman as in Slyman Development Group. But the address for their filing lists to 1220 Huron! http://www2.sos.state.oh.us/reports/rwservlet?imgc&Din=201422600838

 

It's a small site with a small medical office building built about 1980. We had a family doctor in there when we lived on the east side a long time ago. I checked the surrounding parcels but none have sold lately, so it doesn't appear to be part of a larger development -- at least at this point. Perhaps that could change. The TOD development might draw in spin-off development or profit-takers. It bears watching.

Longtime Shaker shopping center being transformed

Former Van Aken plaza will be redeveloped as part of $70 million project

By STAN BULLARD

February 01, 2015 4:30 AM

 

When real estate developers and railroad magnates Oris P. and Mantis J. Van Sweringen planned Shaker Heights after 1905, sales literature promised a residential area “without commercial invasion.”

 

With retail and related uses relegated to three districts that form just 7% of the suburb east of Cleveland, the result was touted as a “garden city” that also became a bedroom community shy of a center of town or downtown core. The idea behind a looming $70 million redevelopment of the former Van Aken Shopping Center by RMS Investment Corp. of Cleveland and the city of Shaker Heights is to fix that — and spur additional investment in older commercial properties nearby.

 

“We are in a huge reset,” said Jon Ratner, a member of the Ratner family that shares ownership of the Van Aken center with the Miller and Shafran families.

 

MORE:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150201/SUB1/302019977/longtime-shaker-shopping-center-being-transformed

^Nice. Sounds promising and is much needed.

Having been home in Shaker for much of January it was nice to see the construction beginning in terms of road closures.  This area has always been such an eyesore compared to the rest of the city.  Long overdue. 

Staring Monday and finalized by next month, the Chagrin, Warrensville, Van Aken/Northfield intersection will be a four-way...

 

www.shakeronline.com/news-and-events/construction-zone/956-northfield-road-at-chagrin-boulevard-permanent-closure

 

Northfield Road at Chagrin Boulevard - Permanent Closure

Begins Monday, February 23

Improvement Project: Reconfiguration of Warrensville/Chagrin Intersection

 

Northfield Road, at the intersection of Chagrin and Warrensville, will close permanently as construction begins on that quadrant of the planned four-way intersection.

 

Traffic will no longer be able to travel on Northfield going north or southbound through the intersection at Chagrin and Warrensville. South of the intersection, Northfield will dead end into a new cul-de-sac set for construction this spring.

 

This closure creates a new traffic pattern:  Local access to buildings between the intersection and the roundabout will be from the south only (or from Warrensville). Drivers who wish to travel south on Northfield will turn left onto new Northfield from Warrensville.

 

South of the roundabout, Northfield remains open in both directions.

 

The Good News – Within a few weeks (by approximately March 16) traffic lights in the district will be re-timed and there should be an improvement at the light located at Farnsleigh and Chagrin.

 

The Not-So-Good News – Until the reconfiguration of the intersection is completed (fall 2015), there will be no left turn from Chagrin (westbound) onto Warrensville.

 

We are preparing a map to help identify new patterns and access to businesses in the district.

 

For questions or comments contact the Cuyahoga County construction office at 216-752-9047.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////

 

http://www.shakeronline.com/news-and-events/construction-zone/van-aken-boulevard-at-farnsleigh-road-permanent-closure

 

Van Aken Boulevard at Farnsleigh Road - Permanent Closure

Begins Monday, March 16

Improvement Project: Reconfiguration of Warrensville/Chagrin Intersection

 

Van Aken will end at Farnsleigh, requiring either a left or right turn. Turn right to proceed east and westbound on Chagrin. Turn left to proceed north and southbound on Warrensville. You will no longer be able to proceed on Van Aken from the Warrensville/Chagrin intersection.

 

Traffic heading west on Chagrin will no longer be able to proceed through the intersection onto Van Aken. To access Van Aken from that point, turn right onto Warrensville, then left on Farnsleigh or travel through the intersection and turn right on Farnsleigh.

 

From mid-March until mid-November, there will be one lane in each direction on Warrensville and Chagrin. There will be a left turn lane from southbound Warrensville to Chagrin and a right turn lane from Chagrin eastbound to Warrensville.

 

To patronize the businesses at both Van Aken Center and Shaker Plaza, access will remain open along Farnsleigh. Additional access to Van Aken Center is via a right turn off southbound Warrensville just before the former westbound lane of Van Aken. Additional access to Shaker Plaza from Chagrin westbound, turn right just past the Warrensville intersection.

 

The Good News - All lights in the area will be re-timed as new traffic patterns settle in. Prepare to say goodbye to the 3-minute stop light!

 

We are preparing a map to help identify new patterns and access to businesses in the district.

 

For questions or comments contact the Cuyahoga County construction office at 216-752-9047.

I can't wait to see what kind of a mess this causes, particularly with some new left turns potentially being added from roads that weren't really designed for that capability.

Shaker extends contract with Uptown developer for Van Aken business district: City Council wrap-up

By Thomas Jewell, special to Northeast Ohio Media Group

on March 24, 2015 at 12:32 PM, updated March 24, 2015 at 12:57 PM

 

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- City Council has extended its contract with the real estate consultant working for the past three years on recruitment for the Van Aken business district.

 

The $36,000, 18-month contract extension approved on Monday (March 23) will take Berusch Development Partners to $166,000 in payments from Shaker Heights since April 2012.

 

"In this final phase of the contract, BDP will assist the city in packaging the Qua site for development, and support the city in the business and financial planning for the RMS development and use agreement," City Economic Development Director Tania Menesse said in a March 23 memo to council.

 

MORE:

http://www.cleveland.com/shaker-heights/index.ssf/2015/03/shaker_extends_contract_with_u.html

This intersection is a absolute traffic nightmare right now.  But it'll be a great development when completed.

This intersection is a absolute traffic nightmare right now.  But it'll be a great development when completed.

 

Yeah it's terrible. They should really allow traffic to turn left onto Scottsdale.

Interesting images.....

 

http://www.passovgroup.com/listings/shaker-heights-van-aken-district/

 

 

 

Some more info and renderings for the Shaker Heights TOD project.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/06/first_look_latest_plans_for_sh.html#incart_related_stories

 

First Look: Latest plans for Shaker Heights Van Aken project unveiled (photos)

 

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio – New plans and renderings unveiled Tuesday evening at City Hall provided the most detailed picture to date of the long-anticipated, $90 million Van Aken project.

 

Led by RMS Investment Corp. in collaboration with the city of Shaker Heights, the project aims to replace a pair of outdated 1950s shopping centers with a densely developed town center northwest of the busy intersection of Chagrin Boulevard and Warrensville Center Road

 

The two-phase project would create a collection of two- to four-story brick and glass office, residential and retail buildings clustered around a new multimodal transit hub, a triangular park and a new network of tree-lined streets.

...

 

 

 

My initial reaction is disappointment.  First, I thought the grouping would be much more compact than this.  There's a lot of open space here which I thought was being corrected from car-oriented present configuration.  While I prefer the greater greenery that this plan has, open space around short building blocks seems to roughly replicate what is already there...  Secondly, I thought residential units were more integrated into the core mixed use area as opposed to office-over-retail.  Mixed use is good, but I'd prefer more apartment units in the middle of this development.  In fact, one of the early planning documents mentioned that commercial/office development would be relatively minimal based on Shaker's high taxes and a realistic view of the amount of business Shaker can and cannot attract.  Third, I recall a Tudor-Gothic style rendering of the mixed-use apartment buildings similar to ones in Cleveland Hts' retail and entertainment districts; the squat, flat-roofed plain architecture in the renderings is not very inspiring -- it looks like a small light industrial or office campus development.  The residential component in the rendering is grouped as single-use buildings away from the core -- on the north side of (what promises to still be) busy Farnsleigh Road.  Fourth, I thought the south (Shaker Plaza) would be demolished for a more tighter, mixed-use walking area.  The plaza is a strip mall.  I thought the plan was to create a walkable TOD... this isn't it.

 

Also, I thought the Rapid station or terminal would be much closer in proximity to the buildings, but it seems there's still a great deal of open space from the station platforms and the development.  As the site plan and renderings suggest, the Rapid terminates at the back of the development (not the front) and there's a large surface lot between the buildings and the Rapid station -- not unlike what currently exists with the obvious upgrade that the westbound Van Aken roadway will no longer separate the Rapid from the buildings.  One of the few positives I see is that there is a parking deck on the Warrensville side of the complex.  Otherwise, this is quite a letdown from the drawings and plans that were initially made.

^ I too want to see Shaker Plaza gone, and it's in the plans, but they don't have ownership over it yet. Not much you can do without that.

^ I too want to see Shaker Plaza gone, and it's in the plans, but they don't have ownership over it yet. Not much you can do without that.

 

I think you're right, which means the footprint has shrunk from the initial plans which called for the development include Shaker Plaza and extend all the way south to Chagrin.

I agree Clvlndr.  Basically, all this plan does is put an apartment building and two restaurants in a parking lot, and throw grass on the remainder.  Ho hum.

I think this is only phase 1.

I think this is only phase 1.

 

Yes, I did check out Steve Litt's article (didn't have time to read it earlier), and it noted Phase II.  I'm still underwhelmed by Phase I, though.

I don't know why I find it amusing that they have parking situated right next to the train station.

I don't know why I find it amusing that they have parking situated right next to the train station.

 

One key player in the development team is a longtime rail advocate. I'd be surprised if he was involved in the decision for putting a parking lot in phase 1 next to the rail station. I've been meaning to ask him about that.

I don't know why I find it amusing that they have parking situated right next to the train station.

 

One key player in the development team is a longtime rail advocate. I'd be surprised if he was involved in the decision for putting a parking lot in phase 1 next to the rail station. I've been meaning to ask him about that.

 

That kind of bothered me, too.  I guess it's a little justifiable because that station is the terminus of the Blue Line, so there's a bit of Park-N-Ride potential.  But it would be more justifiable if there weren't so much parking elsewhere in the development...

If the current parking restrictions are continued with the new development, then GCRTA passengers won't be able to park there either.

I don't know why I find it amusing that they have parking situated right next to the train station.

 

One key player in the development team is a longtime rail advocate. I'd be surprised if he was involved in the decision for putting a parking lot in phase 1 next to the rail station. I've been meaning to ask him about that.

 

That kind of bothered me, too.  I guess it's a little justifiable because that station is the terminus of the Blue Line, so there's a bit of Park-N-Ride potential.  But it would be more justifiable if there weren't so much parking elsewhere in the development...

 

Actually, not really-- I don't know why there should be a desire for something that's never been available... As far as I know, there has never been Park-N-Ride at the Warrensville/Van Aken terminal of the Blue Line, not even back in the Shaker Rapid days.  Van Aken Shopping center had signs forbidding and threatening towing ... at least they used to.  Part of the reason is the unusual configuration with the Farnsleigh station being only a few hundred feet (1,000 feet at the most) from the end of the line, where there is both a large surface lot across the street from the station and a smaller angle, pull-in lot adjacent to the tracks.

 

I just don't get this design at all... For all the big TOD ballyhoo about this project over the past decade, what we're being presented, at least in Phase 1, is the same old cookie-cutter suburban type stuff that this development is replacing: a grouping a bland, squat office/retail buildings in a suburban campus on a wide plaza whose back is turned toward the transit station (keep in mind, many of the current, soon-to-be-bulldozed Van Aken Shopping Ctr buildings, are mixed also office-over-retail mixed use buildings, so this new plan is nothing new)... And just like the 50s era plaza, these new buildings will be a distance away from the Rapid station, separated by the same ol' bland-suburban sea of asphalt parking.

 

All I can say is: Here we go again! ... 25 years ago, Shaker blew it that absurd single-use, one-level strip mall along Chagrin at Lee road that replaced mixed use, sidewalk buildings from the 1940s.  Despite it's status as being THE rapid transit city in the State -- the town where the Rapid was both born and which still the most intimately Ohio town served by the Rapid, Shaker is still showing it doesn't have a clue about TOD, which is both ironic and sad. 

Does anybody know if The Fresh Market will be included in the new retail?

Yes.  Fresh Market is staying where it is.  They are tearing down everything around it.

Actually, not really-- I don't know why there should be a desire for something that's never been available... 

 

That's kind of a silly statement.  I'm glad Dick Pace doesn't feel the same way about lakefront apartments, and that Little Italy disagrees when it comes to a Rapid station on Mayfield Rd., and that the Cleveland Hostel people were willing to take a chance in Ohio City.  :wink:

 

I'm not advocating for a Park-N-Ride, by the way. I'm just saying I could see that as a rationale, especially given that there's parking at almost every other Blue Line station in Shaker.

I don't know why I find it amusing that they have parking situated right next to the train station.

 

One key player in the development team is a longtime rail advocate. I'd be surprised if he was involved in the decision for putting a parking lot in phase 1 next to the rail station. I've been meaning to ask him about that.

 

That kind of bothered me, too.  I guess it's a little justifiable because that station is the terminus of the Blue Line, so there's a bit of Park-N-Ride potential.  But it would be more justifiable if there weren't so much parking elsewhere in the development...

 

Actually, not really-- I don't know why there should be a desire for something that's never been available... As far as I know, there has never been Park-N-Ride at the Warrensville/Van Aken terminal of the Blue Line, not even back in the Shaker Rapid days.  Van Aken Shopping center had signs forbidding and threatening towing ... at least they used to.  Part of the reason is the unusual configuration with the Farnsleigh station being only a few hundred feet (1,000 feet at the most) from the end of the line, where there is both a large surface lot across the street from the station and a smaller angle, pull-in lot adjacent to the tracks.

 

I just don't get this design at all... For all the big TOD ballyhoo about this project over the past decade, what we're being presented, at least in Phase 1, is the same old cookie-cutter suburban type stuff that this development is replacing: a grouping a bland, squat office/retail buildings in a suburban campus on a wide plaza whose back is turned toward the transit station (keep in mind, many of the current, soon-to-be-bulldozed Van Aken Shopping Ctr buildings, are mixed also office-over-retail mixed use buildings, so this new plan is nothing new)... And just like the 50s era plaza, these new buildings will be a distance away from the Rapid station, separated by the same ol' bland-suburban sea of asphalt parking.

 

All I can say is: Here we go again! ... 25 years ago, Shaker blew it that absurd single-use, one-level strip mall along Chagrin at Lee road that replaced mixed use, sidewalk buildings from the 1940s.  Despite it's status as being THE rapid transit city in the State -- the town where the Rapid was both born and which still the most intimately Ohio town served by the Rapid, Shaker is still showing it doesn't have a clue about TOD, which is both ironic and sad. 

 

If memory serves, there is a large parking lot on the North side of Farnsleigh between the corner at Van Aken and the Ohio Savings Bank building.  That is where most of the Blue Line riders park and then get on at the Farnsleigh stop.  In those renderings it looks like new residential is proposed for that lot.  Perhaps there are just not that many people using that lot as when I lived in the area.

Van Aken Boulevard is lined with GCRTA parking from Farnsleigh to Lynnfield, so I'm not sure why the parking lot is proposed between the station and the new development. Maybe they're just following suburban cookie-cutter retail theory that you have to have off-street parking out from of a store's front door.

FWIW, the site plan showing future phases has the parking replaced with more buildings. This type of development is a bit of experiment in our market and this grocery is going to have to compete with other options with ample surface parking. Can't say I really blame them for paving what would otherwise be empty space at this stage.  Hopefully the development is a big hit and future phases actually happen.

 

EDIT: below is the site plan showing full build out (contingent on obtaining site control of additional land), and looks like some of that additional building would be another parking garage.

 

Actually, not really-- I don't know why there should be a desire for something that's never been available... 

 

That's kind of a silly statement.  I'm glad Dick Pace doesn't feel the same way about lakefront apartments, and that Little Italy disagrees when it comes to a Rapid station on Mayfield Rd., and that the Cleveland Hostel people were willing to take a chance in Ohio City.  :wink:

 

I'm not advocating for a Park-N-Ride, by the way. I'm just saying I could see that as a rationale, especially given that there's parking at almost every other Blue Line station in Shaker.

 

It's not silly it's fact: there was never an Rapid parking lot at the end of the Blue Line, either under RTA or it's predecessor the Shaker Heights RT, so why should Shaker Heights or RTA want one there now?

FWIW, the site plan showing future phases has the parking replaced with more buildings. This type of development is a bit of experiment in our market and this grocery is going to have to compete with other options with ample surface parking. Can't say I really blame them for paving what would otherwise be empty space at this stage.  Hopefully the development is a big hit and future phases actually happen.

 

EDIT: below is the site plan showing full build out (contingent on obtaining site control of additional land), and looks like some of that additional building would be another parking garage.

 

 

I see there's a parking garage located just past the RTA terminal, so in typical Cleveland fashion, Shaker and RTA will foreclose Blue Line rail expansion forever. 

It's not silly it's fact: there was never an Rapid parking lot at the end of the Blue Line, either under RTA or it's predecessor the Shaker Heights RT, so why should Shaker Heights or RTA want one there now?

 

Just playing devil's advocate because like I said, I'm not saying they should, but why *wouldn't* they?  If it drives up ridership on the Blue Line.... 

 

And yeah, it's very silly (and frankly, very Cleveland) to think that just because things have "always been" one way, that they can't or shouldn't change. 

^with the reconfiguration of the intersection removing Northfield and Van Aken, accessing that planned lot does not seem very viable, although the Phase 2 plan has a building on top of the current Farnsleigh surface lot.  I agree with KJP, there's plenty of RTA parking along Van Aken.  Drivers should also consider sticking their cars in the future garages, although RTA's car-to-train commuters would probably balk as Cleveland rail commuters are spoiled.  Many US transit systems have pay lots along their rail lines while ours have always been free.