ODOT Strikes Again

How we could save a landmarks district building from being destroyed and make a connection to the lakefront more pedestrian and bicycle friendly

Streets are places, and some of Cleveland’s neighborhood and downtown places are lately being designed by the state department of highways, aka the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). Local groups are continuing the fight for complete streets that make economically successful, great places but ODOT keeps proving time and again they don’t get it. I’d like to share one more frustration: the east end of the Shoreway Boulevard project.


As far back as the 2006 presentations of the boulevard, ODOT was showing monstrously huge intersections along the corridor, particularly at W.25^th St and W.28^th St (in seven different configurations). At this point we should have collectively stood up and said, “Wow, ODOT, are you kidding us? This is not at all what we meant by pedestrian friendly connections to the lake!!!” But ODOT kept talking about multi-modal connections as if they understood what we wanted, and as if they felt that it was possible to make it happen. I believe that it is not too late to stand up to prevent one particular anti-placemaking disaster in the corridor from happening, and that this is a battle worth fighting, because if you take the time to figure out what is going on, it is clear that there are alternatives.


If you’ve lost track of the Shoreway project lately, you may be surprised to learn that all the at-grade intersections have been taken out. That’s right, the project that was supposed to better connect neighborhoods to Lake Erie with new pedestrian connections at traffic lights amounts to some new and improved tunnels, and in Phase II, some landscaping. Don’t get me wrong, the new and improved tunnels are a good thing, and the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood will get an important new connection to Edgewater Park. But what we are getting overall falls tremendously short of what was originally advertised. Worse, the side streets leading to the Shoreway are actually going to become less pedestrian-oriented and neighborhood-friendly than they were to begin with.


I’m not a traffic engineer or a journalist. All of the information here I took from reading documents on a CD that ODOT sent me, material on ODOT’s website, and resources that ODOT referenced (plus a little research on truck sizes). There is missing information and quite possibly some inaccuracies on my part. My purpose is to start a conversation.

The Impending Disaster
I’ve been paying particular attention to the W.28^th Streetand Detroit intersection area, because the changes here involve taking out a beautiful four story building in the Ohio City landmark district. It’s a sad little story, because the Jamestown building is a historic building that clearly adds character to the street and the gateway between Ohio City and downtown Cleveland will suffer from its loss. Linda’s Superette and the Jamestown, as well as another little building to the east, have been on the chopping block on ODOT maps since at least 2006. ODOT has refused to recognize that they are historic properties on its maps. The Environmental Impact Statement for the project concluded that no historic properties would be affected. The Ohio State Historic Preservation Office signed off on it. So much for federal and state safeguards.


The buildings have to be taken out because ODOT plans to:

• Widen the intersection of Detroit Ave and W. 28^th St to accommodate the traffic
  
• Widen Detroit Ave between W.28^th St and W.25^th St. to accommodate the new traffic plan.
  

I’m assuming you are reading this because you know that widening streets to accommodate traffic is terrible for neighborhoods and for making walkable places. So I don’t have to convince you of that. I’m going to make the argument that widening the roadway and the intersection here is not necessary even for the purpose of smooth traffic flow.

The engineering drawings for the intersection show the proposed design in dark solid lines and the existing condition in a lighter dashed line. I shaded in the footprint of the existing buildings and the existing curb cut to make this more clear.


The Neighborhood
W.28^th is the extension of Fulton Road in Ohio City and after it crosses Detroit Avenue it goes into the Lakeview Terrace public housing development. On the northwest corner of the W.28^th and Detroit intersection is a parking lot for a bar called Bounce. Next to Bounce is a historic building renovated into market-rate apartments, with diagonal parking off of Detroit.  Across the street are various offices and some more parking.  I would call this street a functioning part of a neighborhood. A few years ago I was involved in a block-club initiated planning process for this end of Detroit Avenue which emphasized creating a neighborhood character here while retaining existing industries. On Cleveland’s Lakefront Plan, W.28^th is designated as a pedestrian connection that winds its way down to the lake, eventually connecting to Whiskey Island and the towpath trail. intersection is a parking lot for a bar called Bounce. Next to Bounce is a historic building renovated into market-rate apartments, with diagonal parking at the edge of Detroit Avenue.

The historic buildings that ODOT wants to take out to widen Detroit Avenue and the W. 28^th St. intersection are Linda’s Superette and the Jamestown building on the northeast corner of the intersection. The Lakeview Terrace residents often walk up to Detroit Avenue to Linda’s Superette, as it’s the only convenience store close by. Linda’s Superette is a cute little historic building, in my opinion, and has the potential to be restored. Next to Linda’s Superette is the Jamestown building, which is the last remnant, on the north side of the street, of the commercial buildings that used to line it on both sides. The Jamestown building has a presence on the street that frames the gateway from Ohio City to the Detroit Superior Bridge at W. 25^th St. a block to the east. Both the Jamestown and Linda’s buildings are in the Ohio City Local Landmarks District, which means the City of Cleveland Landmarks Commission has the authority, if it chooses, to prevent buildings from being torn down. Between the Jamestown building and W. 25^th St. is mostly parking and a park (there’s one more little building), and this area has been targeted as a good redevelopment site by the City of Cleveland Lakefront Plan.  The success of redevelopment here, particularly residential development, will be dependent on creating a walkable environment. Widening Detroit Ave here will detract heavily from the ability to create an environment conducive to development.

The Design Problem

Right now you can get on the Shoreway going west at W.25^th and going east at W.28^th.  The eastbound onramp at W.28^th is terribly designed with a short blind merge into the left lane of traffic, and it’s adjacent to the off-ramp, so there is a congested area of cars and pedestrians there. With the highway redesign, the onramp going east will disappear. All good so far. But also, on the other side of the street, a new onramp going west will be built adjacent to a new offramp going east. This replaces the on/off ramps at W.25^th, which are removed in order to open up an additional small area for redevelopment next to the parking lot and park. Any traffic, including truck traffic coming out of the flats,that used to get on the Shoreway at W.25^th to go west will need to go over to W.28^th, and all eastbound traffic that used to get off at W.25^th will need to use W.28^th.

When ODOT says in its update that it is widening the intersection and the roadway to “accommodate the traffic,” it is being really vague. I requested all the meeting notes and modeling documentation on this issue from ODOT and discovered what the justification boils down to: 

• Detroit Avenue needs to be widened because it was decided that there needs to be an additional lane, a left turn lane, added at W.28^th.

• The intersection of W.28^th and Detroit Avenue needs to be widened because the curb cut for the right hand turn from Detroit westbound to W.28^th Street northbound is now going to be designed with a 40’ turn radius.
  
• W.28^th north of Detroit needs to be widened because it needs to go from 4 lanes… to 4 lanes.
  

Let’s look at and maybe debunk each of these justifications. 


Detroit Avenue Does Not Need To Be Widened

Looking at the engineering drawings it seems clear that at least the Jamestown building could be saved, with no other changes, if Detroit Avenue does not have to be widened. This moves the necessary curb cut and turning radius south away from the buildings. If Detroit is not widened it will also be really positive for any new development that goes in, because the street will have a much more livable and walkable character.

The idea of widening Detroit Avenue first appears in the online public record in notes at a January 11, 2007, Lakefront West Subcommittee meeting, and again at a December 2, 2008 subcommittee meeting. It’s first announced to the public in the two-page December 2008 project update document, where it is specifically stated that Detroit Avenue will be widened between W.25^th St. and W.28^th St. However, this statement is not included in the December 11, 2008 public meeting PowerPoint presentation, and that presentation includes detailed intersection maps showing Detroit Avenue remaining the same width with four lanes.  It is not included in the PowerPoint presentation to the Cleveland Planning Commission on December 19, 2008, which still shows four lanes on Detroit. I’m not sure exactly what version of the plan Cleveland Planning Commission adopted on January 9^th, 2009 because that presentation’s not on the ODOT website[1].

What happened to make ODOT think Detroit Avenue has to be widened? First of all, sometime in 2007 - 2008[2] ODOT did some modeling and realized that in order to try to get Level of Service (LOS) D or better on the Shoreway corridor as a whole, some intersecting side streets, including W. 28^th St., would have to be widened to six lanes and they still weren’t working at a “D” during peak hours[3].  Even ODOT realized that more than six lanes is a nightmare scenario for neighborhood streets that are intended to be pedestrian-oriented. So this was a key decision moment. One possible decision would be to leave the side streets at the existing width and accept LOS E or F at the side street intersections. This theoretically could be a feasible option. If traffic got too bad, people could take alternate routes. The scheduled Innerbelt project would be limiting routes at the same time and ODOT was determined to maintain capacity on the Shoreway.  ODOT decided, after three years of going along with it, that the whole idea of connecting the side streets at intersections where people could walk across the Shoreway to the lakefront didn’t work after all. So the ramps were put back into the plan all along the route.

Months after the signalized intersections were taken out of the plan and the Planning Commission approved the plan in January 2009, an analysis of the W.28^th street area was conducted. The results were presented in a technical memorandum on June 24, 2009. The memo makes it sound like the assumption is at this point that Detroit Avenue will not be widened and that W.28^th St. configuration options are the main consideration. In all four scenarios, Detroit was modeled as not being widened, but W.28^th has either 4 or 5 lanes. 

• The memo said the modeling showed that four lanes on W. 28^th St. will cause levels of service E and F at the signal at the W. 28^th St on ramps, during peak pm traffic only.  It also showed that all the scenarios with either 4 or 5 lanes caused cars to back up too far from the signals (lane storage problems).
  
• A new twist, which had not appeared in any presentations to this point, was that Detroit westbound was shown with one right hand turn only lane (the other lane was shown as a combined left/straight lane). Prior to this Detroit Avenue westbound had always been shown with one left/straight lane and one right/straight lane.
  

There was a meeting on July 9th, 2009, to respond to this memo, at which all options still seemed to be on the table. This was a small meeting with ODOT reps, Baker (the consultant), and two engineers with the city.  The notes from the meeting say:

The issues with W. 28th Street accommodating the ramp traffic to and from the Shoreway are: the amount of traffic is projected to require 6 lanes, the required lanes impact the existing structure, the lanes do not line up at the intersection with Detroit, and the storage length is substandard between the ramps and Washington as well as between the ramps and Detroit.

Baker reviewed the traffic memo dated June 24th which showed that a four-lane section is not projected to accommodate traffic, and that the five lane scenarios have several storage length issues which cannot be resolved due to geometric constraints.

At this point all options for the intersection are still on the table for discussion including a no-build condition. The meeting notes say:

Four options for W. 28th St. were discussed:

1. A “no-build” scenario that improves the existing condition aesthetically but leaves operations the same, except for the closing of the eastbound onramp from W. 28th St. due to safety concerns. 
2. Moving the ramps to W. 28th St. (westbound on-ramps and eastbound offramp),but closing

W. 28th St. north of the ramps (south of Washington). Based on ODOT Central Office analysis, this allows traffic to be accommodated with a reduced number of lanes on the ramps and W. 28^th St. It was also discussed that this could negatively impact the Lakeview Terrace area by routing the West 28th traffic to West 25th. 

3. Moving the westbound on-ramp from W. 25th St. to W. 28th St., maintaining the westbound off-ramp at W. 28th St, and restricting the eastbound on and off movements to W. 45th St.

4. Moving the ramps to W. 28th St., but closing the eastbound on ramp for safety.

It was decided that option 1 provides the best condition for carrying traffic, followed by option 2. ODOT Central Office will conduct traffic analysis on the options before the design team makes a decision on what exactly to recommend/include in the PES.

The City requested that eastbound and westbound left turn bays be examined at the Detroit Avenue intersection with W. 28th St

Additional meetings were held with CMHA to discuss the closing of 28^th St to through traffic north of the ramps, and it was decided this was a feasible option, at least in part. The December 17, 2009 engineering drawings show only one lane northbound connecting W.28^th with Lakeview Terrace.

To summarize the July 9, 2009 meeting:

• The group believes that the plans are such a mess that the best thing to do is to leave everything like it is currently, except close the eastbound onramp.
  
• The next best thing to do is to continue on with the plan except close W. 28^th through to Lakeview Terrace. This is what they ultimately decide to do. It is vetted with CMHA and the southbound access from Lakeview Terrace is removed.
  
• The City asks for a left turn lane to be added on Detroit, which will require widening the road. It really seems like widening Detroit is something that is not in the plans until this point, since the memo that caused them to reconsider everything is based on a model that does not widen Detroit. This doesn’t explain why the December 2008 project update specified widening Detroit. Are you as confused as I am?
  

Baker wrote me an explanation for why Detroit Avenue has to be widened:

The westbound left turn lane at the intersection of Detroit Avenue @ W. 28th Street has been included in the preliminary engineering design to address a potential operational issue involving blocked traffic. Intersections along Detroit Avenue have two lanes which can accommodate through traffic and turning traffic. At all of those locations, through traffic can pass stopped left turning vehicles by utilizing the travel lane which isn’t being blocked. Since the Detroit Avenue westbound approach at W. 28th Street requires a right turn lane which extends to W. 25th Street, only one westbound through lane is provided. Thus, not providing a left turn bay on this approach would create an issue with stopped left turning vehicles blocking the Detroit Avenue westbound through traffic, which could result in significant queuing issues, particularly during the evening peak period. This potential operating issue could also create a potential safety issue. Vehicles blocked by left turning traffic may attempt to utilize the right turn lane as a through lane, thus creating an unsafe condition.

This is what I get out of Baker’s response:

• The right turn only lane, which appeared suddenly in the June 24, 2009 memo and was included in all of the options analyzed, is taken as a requirement, but it means that a vehicle turning left will block traffic[4] going straight unless a new lane is added.
  
• Perhaps city engineers identified this problem as soon as they saw that right turn only lane in the modeling and that’s why they asked for the new left turn lane at the July 9, 2009 meeting.
  
• Baker says that left turning vehicles would particularly be a problem during the evening peak hours. This statement reveals that Baker is not familiar with current operating conditions at the intersection. Left turns onto W.28th from Detroit westbound are not currently allowed during am or pm peak hours. There is a sign in place stating this. Nobody from the public has ever asked for the ability to turn left there during rush hours as far as I know.
  

ODOT, if pressed, may be able to come up with a logical reason why there needs to be a right-turn only lane. Presumably, it helps keep traffic from backing up on Detroit. But there is a serious doubt, in my opinion, that this justifies tearing up historic buildings and widening Detroit Avenue. I asked ODOT for any further traffic analysis done after June 24, 2009, but have not received anything. I haven’t been able to meet with ODOT to discuss these concerns. It’s not clear if any additional analysis was done looking at the need for the right turn only lane after it was decided W.28^th Street was to be closed southbound north of the ramps, which clearly had a major impact on the traffic flow.  It may be that the need for the right turn only lane is lessened. If the right turn only lane can return to its current condition as a right turn/straight through lane there is no need for the new left turn lanes  -- and the justification for widening Detroit goes away.

Let’s assume for a minute that there has to be a right turn only lane because otherwise traffic will be too backed up to tolerate. Traffic turning left from Detroit Avenue westbound will then block traffic unless the road is widened. Would it be so horrible to put up a no left turn sign? Already, you cannot turn left there during rush hours. There are many places in the city where you cannot turn left. That is one strategy for dealing with traffic in an urban environment. You can turn left at W.25^th St., and you can turn left at W.29^th St. Isn’t putting up a simple sign better than widening the street and attacking the neighborhood character? This is a question that the public has never been asked.

Fast forward to a public meeting February 23, 2010. The last time the public has seen the plans Detroit Avenue was not shown as being widened.  This presentation focuses on landscaping along the corridor. It shows the new intersection configurations without calling attention to the changes. The presentation shows four lanes on W.28^th north of Detroit Ave and five lanes on Detroit Avenue, including a left turn lane westbound on DetroitDetroit to W.25th. This is also the first time the right hand turn only lane onto W.28^th northbound is shown to the public. In the preliminary engineering report in December 2009, updated April 9, 2010, ODOT says:

• Further modifications were made to Option J during the final phase of alternative development. The recertification of traffic indicated that West 28th Street between the ramps and Detroit would need to be six lanes for an acceptable level of service. It was determined that restricting access to northbound traffic between Washington and the ramps would allow West 28th Street to function at acceptable levels with four lanes.

There is no explanation for widening Detroit in the report. There has not been any opportunity for public input or discussion on widening Detroit other than at the February 23, 2010 public meeting, where it was barely mentioned.

A 40’ Turning Radius Is Not Needed

The widening of the intersection to accommodate a larger design vehicle turning radius is a trickier subject, because it is a subjective and political decision. ODOT’s guidelines are really flexible on turn radii:
 

401.8.1 Curb Radii

The radius used at urban and suburban locations at both signalized and unsignalized intersections, where there may be pedestrian conflicts, must consider the safety and convenience aspects of both the motorist and pedestrian. The radius should be the smallest possible for the circumstances rather than design for the largest possible design vehicle, which often accounts for less than 2 percent of the total users. A large radius can increase the speed of turning motorists and the crossing distance for pedestrians, creating increased exposure risks.[5]

Note that a vehicle can get through an intersection that is not designed perfectly for it – this happens very frequently on city streets, even on dedicated truck routes, and requires a brief encroachment into adjacent lanes as a big truck is turning. That’s why ODOT does not require that an intersection be designed for the largest vehicle possible.

ODOT’s general guidelines on turning radii state:

401.5.2 Urban

Corner radii at street intersections should consider the right of way available, the intersection angle, pedestrian traffic, approach width and number of lanes. The following should be used as a guide:

o        15 to 25 ft. [4.5 to 7.5 m] radii are adequate for passenger vehicles and may be provided at minor cross streets where there are few trucks or at major intersections where there are parking lanes.

o        25 ft. [7.5 m] or more radii should be provided at minor intersections on new or reconstruction projects where space permits.

o        30 ft. [9 m] radii or more should be used where feasible at major cross street intersections.

o        Radii of 40 ft. [12 m] or more, three-centered compound curves or simple curves with tapers to fit truck paths should be provided at intersections used frequently by buses or large trucks[6]

On the engineering drawing there is a 40’ turning radius marked at the northeast corner of the W.28^th and Detroit intersection that cuts into the historic buildings. I have found two explanations for this turning radius. One explanation appears in meeting notes and a different explanation was given to me by Baker.

At that previously mentioned July 9, 2009 meeting with city engineers, Baker, and ODOT, the design vehicles were determined for this intersection as stated in the notes:

• Use WB-62/Aircan truck[7] from Shoreway westbound to 28th, to Detroit.
  
• Other movements use WB-40/fire truck
  

According to these notes, the design vehicle for the turning movement from Detroit westbound to W.28^th northbound is the WB-40 design vehicle. When this designation is made, according to federal AASHTO standards, a 40’ turning radius should be designed.

AASHTO standards define 4 sizes of semi-truck design vehicles (WB- 40, WB – 50, WB-62, and WB-67). The WB-40 is the smallest semi-truck. The other three are larger semi-trucks and the standard for these vehicles is a larger 45’ turning radius. Some fire trucks and city buses are considered to be WB-40 vehicles. Federal guidelines acknowledge that the AASHTO standard turning radii can be modified to create a somewhat tighter curb, using software that more precisely models turning movements.

WB-40 vehicles can and do navigate smaller turning radius curbs on a regular basis. Does the current curb configuration, with a turning radius of about 10’, and similar to countless others in our neighborhoods, prevent fire trucks and city buses from turning? Of course not. These vehicles temporarily encroach into the other lanes slightly just as they have always done in neighborhoods across the city[8].

Here’s the other explanation for the 40’ turning radius notation, from Baker’s response to my questions. Baker provided me with a table that shows the design vehicle for each turning movement at the intersection. The table shows that the design vehicle for the turning movement right from westbound Detroit is a WB-62 vehicle, with the notation “(Access to Water Dept and Great Lakes Towing).” The AASHTO standard for this vehicle is a 45’ radius. In the table, the design radius is listed as Three Centered Curve: 150’- 40- 210.’  Baker provides the following explanation:

The minimum turning radii for WB50 and WB62 trucks (attached) are for 12’, right turn lanes. These minimum radii were used as starting points, and minimized even further when possible utilizing AutoTURN software, which is able to draw in design vehicle turning paths into the design basemap. Radii were reduced on the Detroit westbound W. 28th northbound movement based on the multiple lanes available to turn into. Other curb radii at the intersection are smaller than “standard” due to the multiple lanes to turn into on Detroit Avenue and W. 28th Street north of Detroit Avenue as well as the parking lane on Detroit Avenue west of W. 28th Street that adds width to the turn and reduces the actual curb radius.

So is the design vehicle a WB-62 or is it a WB-40, and if it is a WB-62, why did it change since the all important July 9, 2009 meeting? The Preliminary Engineering Report revised April 9, 2010 has a table of multiple design vehicles used at each intersection but does not indicate which design vehicle is used for each turning movement. It seems most likely that somewhere along the way the decision was made to increase the design vehicle size to WB-62. The table Baker provided also notes that the design vehicle for the movement turning left on Detroit from southbound W.28^th is a WB-62, and the design vehicle for the movement turning right on Detroit from southbound W.28^th is a WB-40.

I don’t know the rationale behind choosing the design vehicles so it is tough to argue against it. I don’t have truck counts. A lot of the truck movement from the flats travels south to I-90.  Looking at the truck route map it seems ODOT is more concerned with trucks getting off the Shoreway than getting on it[9]. The primary truck movements shown on the truck route map are trucks coming off the Shoreway from the east to go down into the flats, and trucks coming out of the flats to go back eastbound on the Shoreway. The access to get on the Shoreway eastbound at W.28^th will be closed and moved to W.45^th St, so trucks will only be turning right on W.28^th to get on going westbound. How much advantage is there to trucks to get on the Shoreway westbound at W.28^th, for a short distance, rather than staying on Detroit Avenue? I admit there is benefit to keeping the trucks away from the neighborhoods as much as possible. Another option is the trucks could get on westbound at W.49^th St.  Considering all this I don’t see a strong justification for changing the curb radius in question based on truck traffic.

Baker was able to reduce the curb radius from the standard for the WB-62 vehicle using software, so presumably they would be able to do the same thing for a smaller design vehicle. It is not clear that Linda’s can be saved even if the turning radius is shrunk to 30’, or 20’, even in conjunction with not widening Detroit Avenue . But it could be saved, and the intersection would be more pedestrian friendly, if the curb radius was not changed or changed only slightly.

There are no hard and fast rules that say that ODOT cannot leave the curb radius the way it is. Look at the other side of the street, by Bounce. Here traffic is getting off the Shoreway and turning right onto Detroit Avenue. According to the table provided by Baker, ODOT chose the design vehicle for this movement to be a WB-40. Yet according to the drawing and the table, this curb radius is staying approximately the same as it was before – 10’.  Can they do that? Of course they can. They could leave the whole intersection the same if they wanted to, or if the public told them that was what they wanted.

We, the public, have not realized that we have this opportunity. We think that ODOT’s use of standards is unquestionable. The truth is ODOT’s own guidelines emphasize that the standards are very flexible, and should be used only while also considering overall priorities. 


West 28^th St. Does Not Need To Be Widened 
West 28^th St. is presently four lanes wide. It was shown in the plans at five lanes at one point, with six lanes threatened, but it is back down to four lanes in the plans, thankfully. In the plans, though, the road is widened to accommodate wider lanes (13 foot outer lanes and 11 foot inner lanes, compared to 12 foot middle and 11 foot outer lanes on the Shoreway itself). This necessitates Linda’s being torn down. I don’t know what the rationale is for this. There has been no explanation. When a building in the landmarks district is being taken out, we deserve an explanation. I believe that when the explanation is given, we will see that there are alternatives, just as there are alternatives to construction a large turning radius and widening Detroit Avenue.

 
And then there’s W. 25^th St
Meanwhile, the W.25^th Street intersection, according to the plans, gets about 30-35 feet wider in diameter than it is today. Yes, incredibly, this already pedestrian-unfriendly (yet regularly traversed by pedestrians) intersection gets widened even further. A big swath of the park at the corner gets wiped out to create a larger turning radius. The would-be-comical-if-it-weren’t-so-serious kicker is that this intersection is the neighborhood terminus of the pedestrian-bike path that runs along the length of the Shoreway.  It is hard to imagine a more inappropriately designed entrance to what has been touted as a major connection to Cleveland’s lakefront.

Conclusion

Let me repeat that I don’t have all the information. I’m a concerned citizen with a planning and design background, not a journalist or a traffic engineer. I’ve been trying to understand the documentation that ODOT has given me, but I may have missed some things or gotten things wrong. I encourage ODOT or others with more information to correct me or add to the story. Despite this caveat, I am pretty confident in drawing two conclusions:

• TheW.28^th street intersection is being blown wide open, Detroit Avenue is being widened, and buildings that are supposed to be protected by the landmarks district will be torn down  -- because of ODOT design decisions that are not based on strict standards and require judgment calls. ODOT has relied entirely on its own judgment in making these decisions and has not asked the public for specific input.
  
• ODOT’s design decisions on this intersection occurred long after the Cleveland Planning Commission approved the overall Shoreway plan. The current intersection design details have never been approved by the city.
  

So what can we do? It is my understanding that at some point, the demolition of the landmarks district buildings will come before the Landmarks Commission, and that they have the power to deny or delay the demolition. I hope when this does happen that people will come out to make comments and fill the room. But I think it is a mistake to wait until this point to take action. ODOT most likely is moving along in the process leading to the start of construction. The further along they get, the more political willpower it will take to stop them. If you share my concerns about the east end of the Shoreway corridor, please express these concerns to City Planning Commission members, Landmarks Commission members, Councilman Joe Cimperman, and Ohio City Near West community development corporation. Let’s ask political leaders to press for ODOT to take the following actions:

• Hold a public meeting focusing on the W.28^th St.and W.25^th St.intersections.
  
• Draw and model design alternatives that emphasize safety for bicycles and pedestrians, including  four lanes on Detroit Avenue with a combination right/straight lane at Detroit Ave westbound to W.28^th St., a no left turn sign at W.28^th St. on Detroit Ave westbound, and a 10’ turning radius at the northeast corner of W.28^th St. and Detroit Ave.
  

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.  Thank you for your support for holding ODOT to the higher design standard that the city deserves, for your support of better access to the lake, and for your support for complete, walkable streets that preserve our heritage and make great, economically thriving places.

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[1] The Preliminary Engineering Document updated April 9, 2010 states that the final alternatives, including widening Detroit Avenue, were presented to the public, the steering committee, and the planning commission in December 2008. However, this is incorrect.

[2] The timeline is a little unclear here. The removal of the signalized intersections from the plan was first discussed by the subcommittee December 2, 2008. The subcommittee had not met for almost 22 months, not since February 9, 2007. The Preliminary Engineering Document updated April 9, 2010 states: The design team became aware of issues with the level of service not being acceptable after the traffic was certified in March 2007. The traffic analysis, the construction budget shortfall, and the project not being approved by Planning Commission led to a temporary design delay. During this delay, ODOT and the City of Cleveland had a series of meetings to discuss the Options and potential phasing opportunities.

[3] ODOT likes to see levels of service (LOS) for vehicles at “D” or better, although many transportation agencies routinely accept LOS of “F” on urban streets, particularly in areas designated as walkable places or neighborhoods. All an F LOS means is that during peak rush hour there may be some back-ups and vehicles may have to wait more than one light-cycle to get through an intersection.

[4] Baker gave me the estimated traffic volumes, which gives a sense for the design problem:

The traffic volumes along Detroit Avenue west of W. 28th Street are projected to decrease by 7% during the AM peak hour and increase by 9% during the PM peak hour. The traffic volumes along Detroit Avenue east of

W. 28th Street are projected to increase by 82% during the AM peak hour and increase by 167% during the PM peak hour. The W. 28th Street traffic volumes are projected in decrease south of Detroit Avenue (10% during the AM peak and 6% during the PM peak) and increase on the north side of Detroit Avenue (109% during the AM peak and 116% during the PM peak).

[5] http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/ProdMgt/Roadway/roadwaystandards/Pages/locationanddesignmanuals.aspx

[6]http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/ProdMgt/Roadway/roadwaystandards/Pages/locationanddesignmanuals.aspx

[7]. A WB-62 truck is a semi-truck with a 48 foot trailer. National Network interstate highways have to allow this size truck according to federal law. About 55% of all semi-truck trailers are smaller than 48 feet, about 30% are 48-52 feet, and 15% are 53 feet or more. (“Review of Truck Characteristics as Factors in Roadway Design,”National Cooperative Highway
Research Program Report 505, 2003).

[8] There are a number of buses that currently travel southbound on W.28^th to Detroit and then turn left but none that turn right from Detroit to W.28^th

[9] http://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/ClevelandUrbanCoreProjects/LakefrontWest/PublicMeetings/Documents/Truck%20Route%20200%20Scale.pdf