cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/305178
We hear the jokes, yes, but
Cleveland:
-Has a metro
-Has a good BRT system
-Has a great history of manufacturing and industry
-Never fully got rid of their streetcars and converted the last two lines to light rail
-Has what looks to be pretty affordable housing
-Has this dope-ass arcade and many other cool architectural featuresCleveland was once a very large industrial powerhouse, and capitalist disinvestment in the city has devastated some parts of it to a huge degree. That cannot be overlooked. But the city has now become a smaller city with big-city features and history. Big shoutout to Cleveland! Go check out https://hexbear.net/c/cleveland@midwest.social for more Cleveland content.
Wish instead of that euclid bus corridor they brought back an actual streetcar route. Also most of the east side rail routes go through some of the richest part of the area where people need it the least.
Disagree. The Healthline is a excellent piece of transit infrastructure that gets more ridership than any other bus line in the state, runs at good frequency 24/7, mostly has dedicated right of way, hits lots of working class areas, and connects the two biggest job hubs in the state (UC/Downtown).
Red line doesn’t run through rich areas at all and also connects the same two vital points as the HL. It even has two stops in East Cleveland, which is literally the poorest part of the state
Blue/Green run through poor and working class areas until they split. Only then does the Green run through a rich part of town, and Blue still runs mostly through mixed income and high density neighborhoods. And you can complain about Green serving a rich area, but it was built as the foundation of those neighborhoods that have been rich from day one, so the only way it wouldn’t serve rich people is if you got rid of it entirely and we should obviously be glad that hasn’t happened.
I’d love to see a lot of rail expansion, though. A fresh streetcar/elevated metro down Saint Clair, eventually connecting with an extended Red that goes all the way to the lake. Blue/Green going west on the lower lever of the DS bridge and then running down Detroit or along the current freight rail all the way to Lakewood or even Rocky River. Something that runs south to hit areas that only have standard bus service currently. I made a big map of proposed transit expansion earlier this year that I should revisit and post here.
Good points. The healthline does get a lot of riders that is true but those busses and all the other condensed traffic going through the euclid corridor has been steadily destroying the road and the brick crosswalks are sinking or just completely dissolving. it’s very hard to do any road repairs there since they have to stop all traffic going down euclid for however long it takes to fix it. I really wish they just didn’t allow traffic going down it like they do and ofcourse pedestrian only + light rail is probably never gonna happen, but i can dream heh. even pedestrian only with a bus lane would be great.
also any time there’s anything going on in the playhouse area it will lead to a ton of cars sitting there with their hazards flashing in the only lane for traffic in many spots which ends up causing a crazy backup to the point where the busses can’t even get through.
All true, but the Healthline helps alleviate all of those performs by moving so many people without cars. It would be better to be light rail (and better still to be elevated heavy rail), but I think it’s misguided to criticize Euclid in particular when it’s the best designed street in the city.
Are they ever gonna start running the blue/green lines to the waterfront again or is that piece of very useable transit infrastructure just gonna stay dormant?
First run will be Browns home opener. It will run for Browns games and then late this year/early next resume normal service.
Wait, are you talking about the trackwork? I was talking about this: https://www.riderta.com/riders-alerts/waterfront-line-construction
Yes: https://www.riderta.com/news/rail-services-update
Although I was wrong about regular service resumption, which won’t be until spring or summer. Looking back at the announcement of the closure in September 21, they said it would be for 24 months. If you count this partial return to service, they delivered exactly on time.
Awesome to hear that they are restoring it, from the outside I worried that it was being mothballed
They’ve been very persistent it would return the whole time it’s been down. With the city pushing big waterfront plans, it would be a massive failure to drop the ball on this.
Is there a planned station here? The area looks ripe for redevelopment. Maybe it could even be public housing?
There was a station planned there at one point, but not for development. That’s the port and it’s very busy. This stop would’ve served port workers. Other areas of the line are extremely ripe for redevelopment; maybe more than anywhere else in the city.