Cleveland Still Pondering Makeover for the Public Square

A plan to shut down streets around Cleveland's Public Square and make it a pedestrian friendly civic space has prompted many commenters to call for revisions to the plan, especially with regard to the square's heavy bus transit capacity.

August 29, 2014, 7am PDT | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

"As Cleveland mobilizes to complete a sweeping makeover of Public Square in time for the Republican National Convention in 2016, questions linger over whether bus transit in the 10-acre civic space in the heart of downtown would be negatively affected by the project," reports Joe Litt.

According to Litt's coverage, one key voice in the discussion, CEO and General Manager of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Joe Calabrese, is reserving final judgment.

At issue is the access of buses to Superior Avenue, which would be the only type of vehicle allowed on the street.

According to Litt, "[a] majority of readers [of The Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com] said they wanted to see buses banished from the square entirely, or at least relegated to the peripheral roads around it." But given that the RTA runs about 4,000 buses through the square daily, the transit agency has reason to be cautious in assessing the impacts of moving transit to other locations.

Full Story:

The Public Square debate: RTA's Joe Calabrese is "cautiously optimistic," but seeks info about the impact of a redesign on bus t

Published on Thursday, August 28, 2014 in The Plain Dealer