CLEVELAND ROCKS WITH A 6-HR. DEMONSTRATION ON A WARM & MOSTLY OVERCAST LABOR DAY, 09-01-14 LEAVE DOWNTOWN’S PUBLIC SQUARE ALONE! DONT CLOSE ONTARIO STREET! DONT NARROW SUPERIOR AVENUE! DONT MESS UP THE TRAFFIC! The demonstration covered Public Square; east side’s Kinsman Avenue including the annual Labor day parade; east side’s Luke Easter Park; and west side’s Jefferson Park neighborhood. Nearly all parts of Cleveland are connected to Public Square via the RTA system. Regular demonstrations are in progress to inform Clevelanders of the negative impact on traffic from the proposed $30 million radical makeover of Public Square. As of 09-01-14 – there have been eight demonstrations for a total of nearly 30 hours – mostly in Public Square. The signs have been seen by thousands. Most Clevelanders I have spoken with have no idea of the details of the negative impacts of the proposed radical makeover. Flyers are being distributed and concerned citizens are being urged to call Mayor Jackson’s office and express their concerns. So far nearly 1,100 flyers have been distributed. I don’t have a car, don’t know how to drive, use public transportation (love our RTA), and walk for hours when I am in downtown Cleveland. I love green spaces. Our house faces west side’s Jefferson Park. As a concerned Clevelander – I worry about the negative effects of decisions made by City Hall on our residents – mostly those that are less fortunate. Hence, this campaign. Mayor Jackson has a vision for Public Square. “I want to see one big square”, the mayor said in a 2011 interview. According to the proposed radical makeover, the four separate quadrants, that have existed for most of the time when the square was laid out over 200-years ago (in 1796), will be combined to form two rectangles. This makeover will require the permanent closing of Ontario Street and the narrowing of Superior Avenue from the existing 77 ft. to 44 ft. and limiting the avenue to bus traffic only. However, when there are major events, the narrowed Superior Avenue will also be closed to bus traffic. Existing traffic will be routed along the perimeter roads and other avenues & streets. According to a $120,000 Traffic Study done in 2012, and paid for by City Hall, Nelson Nygaard – the San Francisco based Traffic Consultant concluded that re-routing of traffic will cause significant delays; blocking of intersections; long lines; 8,500 boardings/alightings moved to adjacent blocks; increased travel time for 18 bus routes, and $1.05 million in additional Annual RTA Operating Costs. If both Ontario Street and Superior Avenue are closed – as Mayor Jackson wanted – the additional Annual RTA Operating Cost would increase to $2.6 million and the re-routing would affect 17,800 boardings/alightings and increased travel time for 26 bus routes. City Hall decided against this alternative. The funding will come from both private and public sources. So far the Cleveland Foundation has committed $8 million and the Gund Foundation $5 million – with a balance of $17 million remaining. The contributions from the Foundations are for the radical makeover of the square and in no way will compensate the RTA for their $1.05 million in additional Annual RTA Operating Cost or the delay in travel time caused to commuters whose cost we don’t know. At present, the traffic flows smoothly along both Ontario Street and Superior Avenue. Any improvement, no matter how much money our Foundations contribute, that does not address the traffic component to an urban setting, cannot be considered a good improvement. Parks are a very important component of urban environments – and unless they provide us with the greenery we are looking for and also permit free flow of traffic – they fail to serve their intended purpose. For example, New York City’s renowned Central Park – unifies both green spaces and traffic and is not really one continuous park – but five separate parts connected by bridges or underpasses – a connection done so seamlessly by Fredrick Law Olmsted, the designer, that most New Yorkers are not aware of it. The connectors cross the bathtubs (depressed roadways for the most part) that carry the cross-town traffic. I became aware of the separate components in the course of walking multiple times, all over the park, in preparation for lectures that I have given on the Bridges of Central Park. My late wife and I are former New Yorkers. As Public Square is not broken, there is no need to fix it. Minor repairs can be easily addressed by the City’s Department of Parks. On August 15, 2014 – the City Planning Commission approved the schematic plans for the makeover. At the hearing, a rep. from the firm of James Corner Field Operations of New York – the Landscape Architect for the radical makeover -- told the Commission that of the four bus shelters, presently on Ontario St. within Public Square, two will be moved to Superior Ave. What will happen to the other two bus shelters is not yet known. Also, Superior Ave., which at present has two bus shelters, within Public Square, will finally end up with six to eight shelters. It is also not clear what will happen to the four bus shelters on Ontario Street, immediately outside Public Square because buses will not be able to easily get to them. While a new Traffic Study is scheduled for end of September, 2014 – Joseph A. Calabrese, CEO of Greater Cleveland RTA, said in a recent interview (according to The Plain Dealer) that a great many issues need to be clarified before RTA can sign off on the radical makeover. The RTA wants Superior Avenue open to both cars and buses – not just buses and is questioning the $1.05 million in additional Annual RTA Operating Costs. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the end of 2014 and the makeover completed by June 2016 in time for the Republican Convention. Here is the link to the 2012 Traffic Study: google/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcleveland%2Fmetro%2Findex.ssf%2F2012%2F06%2Fcleveland_traffic_study_sugges.html&ei=ua_VU-TzOoOmyASLrIHADg&usg=AFQjCNEXMBy_ekGc00BPVaHSbHoFuWTUEg&bvm=bv.71778758,d.aWw&cad=rja
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 04:32:25 +0000
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