Good question. She was at the RTA board meeting this morning where June 1, 2016 was reiterated as the project completion date.

Public Square renovation to cause significant changes to traffic and transit routes

By JAY MILLER

 

Get ready to rethink your travel plans through the heart of downtown Cleveland.

 

It’s all because of the rebuilding of Public Square. The plan will go into effect when construction on the square begins — possibly as soon as Feb. 23.

 

On Tuesday morning, Feb. 3, the Group Plan Commission presented to the board of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority a construction traffic plan that will keep as much auto traffic as possible away from the construction zone, reroute buses and move bus stops. The plan was created by Group Plan traffic consultants and RTA planners.

 

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150203/FREE/150209961/public-square-renovation-to-cause-significant-changes-to-traffic-and

Who is the general contractor on this project?  I didn't see it come out to bid?  When was the bid opening?  Its entirely possible I missed it, but haven't seen it yet.

Who is the general contractor on this project?  I didn't see it come out to bid?  When was the bid opening?  Its entirely possible I missed it, but haven't seen it yet.

 

According to this Litt article, Geis, Higley , Donley's and Turner were all contending for the contract and it looks like Donley's won out. I wasn't able to find anything besides the two links below. Perhaps someone else can fill in the details.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2014/10/group_plan_commission_seeks_10.html

http://www.donleyinc.com/news-events/?tag=/cleveland+public+square

I know Donley's won it.  Not much other than that.  Not sure how Geis thought this project fit their appetite.  I give them all the credit in the world, becasuse they seem to do great work in their space, but streets and roads, especially of this magnitude, dosen't seem like a good fit. 

I know Donley's won it.  Not much other than that.  Not sure how Geis thought this project fit their appetite.  I give them all the credit in the world, becasuse they seem to do great work in their space, but streets and roads, especially of this magnitude, dosen't seem like a good fit. 

I wouldn't say any of those contractors are known for their roadwork. I could be wrong though.

It's official: Public Square renovation to launch Monday, March 9

 

It's happening. Contractors will begin work Monday, March 9, on a sweeping, $32 million renovation of Public Square, the historic and symbolic heart of the city.

 

The city and the nonprofit Downtown Cleveland Alliance issued a brief announcement Monday morning that construction fences would go up around the square in one week.

 

The announcement stated that during the renovation of Public Square, "Ontario Street and Superior Avenue within the square will be closed to all traffic. The surrounding Public Square roadways and Rockwell Avenue will offer access to bus traffic and local vehicular traffic only."

 

The announcement also stated that during construction - which is scheduled from completion in time for the Republican National Convention in 2016 -- the following changes remain in effect:

 

*Only RTA and necessary property access around Public Square (including valet, garage access, etc.).

*Bus stops, shelters and bus layover areas have been reorganized to accommodate full Public Square closure.

*All bus routes and transfers will remain within one block of Public Square.

*The HealthLine stop across from Tower City will remain open.

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/03/its_official_public_square_ren.html#incart_river

I can't wait to see how GCRTA handles this! But then again, they're buses involved here. They love buses.

Your move Jacobs.

I'm hoping for WCS (world class signage :wink:) around the perimeter. Not holding my breath though. This city is not real good in letting ppl know wtf is going on...

Funny that they can completely route bus traffic around the Square for a year to accommodate construction, but won't do it permanently to accommodate an entire City when it's complete.

Your move Jacobs.

Exactly.  I still can't believe they would make this huge investment without some sort of discussion with Jacobs that lead them to believe development is in the planning stages. 

Some great historic photos of the square in the PD today.  Here's the slideshow...pic #20 is awesome...love the holiday light pole decorations and even the "modern" streetlights they were using on Euclid at the time.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/03/public_square_flashback_a_look.html#incart_gallery

Some great historic photos of the square in the PD today.  Here's the slideshow...pic #20 is awesome...love the holiday light pole decorations and even the "modern" streetlights they were using on Euclid at the time.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/03/public_square_flashback_a_look.html#incart_gallery

 

What the h*ll happened to that arch?!  Was that made of stone?  Why didn't it last?  Would love to have it there today.

Some great historic photos of the square in the PD today.  Here's the slideshow...pic #20 is awesome...love the holiday light pole decorations and even the "modern" streetlights they were using on Euclid at the time.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/03/public_square_flashback_a_look.html#incart_gallery

 

What the h*ll happened to that arch?!  Was that made of stone?  Why didn't it last?  Would love to have it there today.

 

I recall reading that it was made of wood and covered in plaster and only meant to be temporary for the centennial. I couldn't find a source at quick glance but I'll keep looking.

^ Bummer

^ Bummer

 

I think it'd be more of a bummer if it actually was made of stone and we tore it down (wouldn't have put it past us to do that...)

 

Edit: Also, I always thought the arc was erected in 1896 for the centennial of the city, not for the county. The picture seems to be a bit older than 1910 as well based upon the streetcar.

^ Bummer

 

I think it'd be more of a bummer if it actually was made of stone and we tore it down (wouldn't have put it past us to do that...)

 

Edit: Also, I always thought the arc was erected in 1896 for the centennial of the city, not for the county. The picture seems to be a bit older than 1910 as well based upon the streetcar.

 

I'd also heard it was for the city's centennial, and that it definitely was temporary.  If only that arch and that Great Lakes Fair bridge to the lakefront weren't "temporary!"  :cry:

That shot of Euclid shopping makes me wonder "what if".

They also erected a nice looking arch over Superior to celebrate the end of the Franco-Prussian War (picture 2).

 

Was that such a common thing? To just build temporary arches for random events? Seems like it would have been better to build stone arches to permanently commemorate those events, while also beautifying the city.

They also erected a nice looking arch over Superior to celebrate the end of the Franco-Prussian War (picture 2).

 

Was that such a common thing? To just build temporary arches for random events? Seems like it would have been better to build stone arches to permanently commemorate those events, while also beautifying the city.

 

The Chicago Worlds Fair comes to mind. Beautiful looking architecture that was actually made of straw.

You buying the stone?

They also erected a nice looking arch over Superior to celebrate the end of the Franco-Prussian War (picture 2).

 

Was that such a common thing? To just build temporary arches for random events? Seems like it would have been better to build stone arches to permanently commemorate those events, while also beautifying the city.

 

It would have been significantly more expensive.  In this case, an arch commemorating a German victory over the French might have been problematic about 45 years later....

^ I'm sure some wealthy industrialist would have been willing to foot the bill back in the day ;) If I ever become a billionaire, I promise to fund a stone reconstruction of both of those arches over Superior, and a streetcar to run under them ;)

Cleveland Police ‏@CLEpolice  1h1 hour ago

Public Square Renovation Traffic Advisory

http://wp.me/p2acpF-WL

 

Lots of construction vehicles -- mostly pickup trucks for surveyors, supervisors, etc. -- have descended on Public Square!

Cleveland Police ‏@CLEpolice  1h1 hour ago

Public Square Renovation Traffic Advisory

http://wp.me/p2acpF-WL

 

Lots of construction vehicles -- mostly pickup trucks for surveyors, supervisors, etc. -- have descended on Public Square!

 

what contractor was awarded the work?

^

 

Who is the general contractor on this project?  I didn't see it come out to bid?  When was the bid opening?  Its entirely possible I missed it, but haven't seen it yet.

 

According to this Litt article, Geis, Higley , Donley's and Turner were all contending for the contract and it looks like Donley's won out. I wasn't able to find anything besides the two links below. Perhaps someone else can fill in the details.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2014/10/group_plan_commission_seeks_10.html

http://www.donleyinc.com/news-events/?tag=/cleveland+public+square

Trying to atone for the sin of the Columbia Building, Dan?

 

Public Square makeover hits $32 million budget with deal between Cuyahoga County, Rock Ohio Caesars and Cleveland

 

The county expects to issue bonds that will yield roughly $7.5 million for construction. That debt will be repaid using money that otherwise could have flowed to Rock, to fund improvements at the company's historic Higbee Building that houses the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland.....Now Rock has agreed to give up its access to that money, which will be redirected to pay off Public Square debt - making a bond deal possible. The landlord also has agreed not to appeal the value of the Higbee Building below $79 million during the life of the bonds, ensuring consistent debt-service payments.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/03/public_square_makeover_hits_32.html#incart_river

No, he's probably just making moves to increase the desirability of properties he owns.

Your move Jacobs.

 

Is there any evidence that this redesign will make him move.

^Who are you referring to when you say "him".

^Who are you referring to when you say "him".

 

Jacobs.

^Both Richard and David Jacob passed away some time ago.  I don't believe any Jacob is high up in the company.  Family members are probably shareholders.

The Jacobs Group still bears Dick Jacobs's name although he died in 2009.

 

http://jresgroup.com/

 

But no, I haven't seen any proof of movement on their end.

^Both Richard and David Jacob passed away some time ago.  I don't believe any Jacob is high up in the company.  Family members are probably shareholders.

 

OK. Thanks for the correction, my bad and I knew that. I'm a child of the 80s, I guess I will always associate the Jacobs name with Dick. Change "him" to "they" or whatever.

A major office building (if that is what we are thinking of for that lot...although a new construction residential will also be problematic as well, financing wise, as we have discussed at length) is going to require a major tenant, maybe even two, before any body is lending $$$ for construction.  For the life of me I cannot guess who that would be.  It would be great if Progressive would just take some space downtown (not abandoning the suburbs totally which I know is a big issue for them and many of their employees).  I would imagine many of their employees (especially the younger ones) would prefer to work downtown and I bet their west side employees would jump at the opportunity.

I have to pinch myself when I see this. Part of me can't believe it's actually happening. These views are going to take some getting used to over the next 15 months:

 

 

 

After seeing the above shots of the Public Square work going on, I was reminded inside myself that I have a friend who works in the Key Tower pretty high up. I know this as she has already posted pictures from her great view of Public Square on her facebook page with the work that has started. I am going to try and get her to sign up on UrbanOhio and ask her to post pictures of the ongoing construction work on Public Square. I'll let everyone know asap.

For what it's worth, I needed to drive through the Public Square area all last week and only once did I encounter a mild slow down.  So far whoever is responsible for signage, traffic control and general getting the word out has done a pretty good job in my opinion.

For what it's worth, I needed to drive through the Public Square area all last week and only once did I encounter a mild slow down.  So far whoever is responsible for signage, traffic control and general getting the word out has done a pretty good job in my opinion.

 

From a public transit perspective, I agree with this too. I haven't had any issues at all with catching the bus that I needed or experiencing any significant delays because of it.

Is public access to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument cut off too?

 

If so, great opportunity to give it a good going over as well.

Is public access to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument cut off too?

 

If so, great opportunity to give it a good going over as well.

 

No, as of now there is still public access via the southeast part of the quadrant.

Demolition has started in earnest. The began by removing pavers in the Northwest Quadrant on Friday and are now working on tree removal as well.

Welcome, BradforPres2040!

^ Thanks! I actually have a picture of the square from above that I was trying to post as well, but I see it did not come through. Any advice on getting that up is appreciated.

^You can upload to a site such as photobucket.com and then paste the image link to this site.

 

I'm anxious to see the demo from above, and welcome!

^ Thanks! I actually have a picture of the square from above that I was trying to post as well, but I see it did not come through. Any advice on getting that up is appreciated.

 

I host all my images at Flickr. After you upload an image, it will appear on your Photostream. Click on the image in Photostream, and after it opens click on the arrow to "Share This Photo." A link to share different sizes of this photo will appear. Best size is no larger than 1024 pixels wide or tall -- if you don't UrbanOhio's software will automatically resize them to that size but it will make the page open more slowly each time someone opens it. And you'll get yelled at. :) Highlight the hyperlink portion for that image, copy and paste it in your message on UrbanOhio.

 

That gets your photo posted, but it will also include some promotional crap from Flickr. You can remove that if you want. The best is to just copy and paste the image-only portion of the hyperlink that starts with the https and ends with the jpg. Then surround them with the img inside the brackets. The second img should be preceded with a / inside the brackets to close the image info. But that will take some practice. The prior paragraph is a good way to start.

For what it's worth, I needed to drive through the Public Square area all last week and only once did I encounter a mild slow down.  So far whoever is responsible for signage, traffic control and general getting the word out has done a pretty good job in my opinion.

 

Traffic has been shockingly good around the square since they closed it.  The only issue I have is that they didn't re-stripe the roads and it doesn't appear that they've altered the stop light programs much either.  For example, when on West Roadway at Superior there is a left turn only lane and a straight / right turn lane.  Everyone gets backed up in the straight / right turn lane because there's a bus stop right there and people are always crossing the street.  A bucket of paint would fix this issue, however minor it is.  I'm just not sure why they haven't made it two lanes all the way around.

Alright. Here you go: