Reimagining Superior Avenue - Part II

Welcome to Part II of this series, where I am discussing how we can reimagine Superior Avenue. As discussed in the first post, the street is currently far too wide and provides much more capacity for cars than it needs to. I also outlined how any future plans for the street must incorporate the already-planned Superior Midway, a transformational piece of bike infrastructure. My proposal also suggests adding dedicated bus lanes with a BRT - style configuration. This post will discuss project cost estimates and implementation, while also providing graphics to help visualize these improvements. 

Project costs and implementation: how to pay for multi-modal improvements

The first question that must be asked before costs can be determined is this: what is the extent of the project? In the case of Superior Avenue, part of that question is already answered; as planned, the Midway will stretch 2.5 miles from Public Square to E. 55th. According to WKYC, the current project costs are estimated at $25 million. However, what would the cost be to extend the Midway to W. 9th? What would it cost to add dedicated bus lanes?

Well, if we take the figure from the Midway into account, then the .35 mile extension to W. 9th would cost an additional $3.5 million. Funding for the primary section has been secured and the project is set to open in 2026, so this extra cost is the first funding gap that would need to be resolved. 

The HealthLine’s model of including planted medians abutting the station platforms would interface well with the Midway, which would be completed first. Source: GCRTA

Under this scheme, it would be logical to add the dedicated bus lanes and associated infrastructure at a later date. The addition of the Midway would also mean that a total restructuring of the road is not necessary, unlike when the HealthLine was built. According to RTA, the HealthLine cost $200 million (about $280 million today) with improvements along 7.1 miles of roadway, with a per-mile cost of about $40 million. Considering the existing Midway will not necessitate massive changes to add bus lanes, and that the road does not need to be entirely replaced, these per-mile costs could be cut in half. This would mean that my proposal, adding a BRT - style service from Public Square to E. 55th and extending the Midway to W. 9th, would cost approximately $55 million. 

Now you may ask, what about the buses? Well, that figure of $55 million does include extra funds to purchase a few more BRT - style buses. However, when RTA purchased new buses for the HealthLine in 2021, they purchased 16. Currently, they operate approximately 8 of these at once, which would provide the additional capacity needed to run these same buses on the current #3 bus route (which runs down Superior from Public Square to Stokes-Windermere). 

However, it is clear that additional funding needs to be secured for the rest of the project. One option to secure funding would be to apply for a RAISE Grant from the US Department of Transportation; these grants are dedicated to transformational transportation projects. According to the USDOT website, there have already been multiple large grants awarded to projects similar to this in 2023. For example, Philadelphia received a $25 million RAISE Grant to help modernize the city’s trolleys and create more complete streets. 

Another funding option for a project like this would be a bond from the Port of Cleveland. This organization has a history of financing projects that spur economic development; both the Midway and a new BRT service would contribute to the economic development of the Superior Avenue corridor. 

Site Plan and Perspective

How would these improvements look? I have created some graphics, including a site plan and perspective image, to show the new infrastructure tangibly. I would like to preface this by saying that I do not have any background in engineering, so these are not super technical. However, they are good visual tools to go along with this post.

This site plan shows a general idea of how the Superior corridor could look from above in Downtown. Notice that bus and bike lanes run continuously and provide vital connections throughout the neighborhood.

The image above is a basic site plan that details how improved bike and bus infrastructure on Superior Avenue and Public Square would look. In this scheme, the bus-only section of Superior running through the Square would be removed and replaced with a continuation of the Midway cycle track. The Midway would then continue to W. 9th Street, where it would connect to the existing bike lanes going over the Detroit - Superior Bridge. 

In addition to the extended cycle track, this plan shows how the proposed dedicated bus lanes on Superior would go around Public Square, using the existing bus lanes that are currently used by the HealthLine. This would also provide the opportunity for a future bus service that connects the HealthLine to the West Side. 

Street trees should also be added along all of the streets in the surrounding area (this plan only shows along Superior for simplicity). These street trees should be placed along the sidewalk, as well as in the planted buffers that will protect the Midway from surrounding traffic. 

Bringing this post full circle, recall the Google Streetview image of Superior between E. 3rd and E. 6th that was shown in the first part. Well, below is how my proposed improvements would look from the same viewpoint. As can be seen in the image, the area would be much livelier, more inviting, and feel safer if these plans came to fruition. In addition, these investments would almost certainly lead to increased economic development and population growth Downtown, and similar development could be spurred in the historically underinvested neighborhoods to the east along the Superior Avenue corridor. 

Adding both the Midway and dedicated bus lanes, as well as nicer landscaping, will go a long way toward making Superior Avenue a much safer and more pleasant street. 

Conclusion

This two-part blog series discussed how to improve the design of Superior Avenue to make the street more pedestrian-friendly, while also incorporating the existing plan for the Midway cycle track. Among the design interventions, it was recommended that a BRT - style service be added to the street in tandem with the Midway to create a high-quality multimodal corridor. The posts also addressed project costs, potential funding sources, and provided both a site plan and perspective image to help visualize the proposed changes. 

Thank you for reading! 

The next post here on the blog will be about the fascinating architecture of street corners in Cleveland and will go live on Friday, 7/21.