The Observation Deck

As I read the article RTA will also ban parking on Clifton:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index ... icati.html

Do the residents of Lakewood have any input on this?

Great, Detroit is thoroughly undriveable. Despite numerous emails about the traffic light at the top of my street it is still a mess. Clifton is a block from us so we use it, I try to avoid it during rush hour and its a great way for me to get from point a to point b. Now it will probably be like Euclid Avenue which is a joke. I just can't comprehend how anyone would be okay with this plan.

Bill Call wrote:As I read the article RTA will also ban parking on Clifton:

Bill,

I read it to state that the curb lane will be bus only during peak rush hour times. Clifton already has parking bans during rush hour. Did you read something different?

I sure would have a big concern if they try to take away all street parking.

Ryan

Ryan Salo wrote:

Bill Call wrote:As I read the article RTA will also ban parking on Clifton:

Bill,

I read it to state that the curb lane will be bus only during peak rush hour times. Clifton already has parking bans during rush hour. Did you read something different?

I sure would have a big concern if they try to take away all street parking.

Ryan

Years ago I remember reading a story about how a misplaced comma cost some company millions of dollars.

"Buses will travel in curb lanes dedicated to buses only, with vehicles arriving at 10-minute intervals during rush hours. A new traffic signaling system will give buses priority"

Curb lanes will be dedicated to buses only. ..vehicles arriving at 10 minute intervals during rush hour.

The bus only lanes on Superior Avenue are bus only at all times.

I'm not all that enthusiastic about a plan that converts Clifton Avenue into another freeway through Lakewood. If people in Fairview and Rocky River want a faster commute downtown they should move to Lakewood.

I'm not please with the new traffic disrupter system either. A lot of people in Lakewood will be spending a lot more time waiting at intersections so the people of Rocky River can have a faster commute. What's in it for Lakewood?

Of course, I am way beyond annoyed about the PD's repeated assertion that running the buses down the middle of Euclid Avenue led to some kind of renaissance. The only parts of Euclid that are not a dead zone are those areas that have received hundreds of millions in taxpayer subsidies.

Again I ask: What's in it for Lakewood?

Bill,

I clicked on the link in the article and here is what RTA is saying.

http://www.riderta.com/majorprojects/cliftonblvd
"Curb lanes will be signed to designate a bus-only status during peak hours."

One benefit I see is that this may encourage more residents to use the buses to get downtown rather than driving. Based on the frequency of these huge buses, RTA sure seems to think there will be an increase in usage. More people using public transportation is a good thing in my mind. It leads to less congested roads, more available parking downtown and less pollution.

It may make my occasional drives downtown easier

Ryan

I guess we will have to take RTA's word that there won't be any changes to the no parking zones on Clifton. Color me skeptical.

Giving buses priority and giving buses the ability to create longer wait times at traffic lights along Clifton seems a high price to pay for new concrete bus pads. The other night I took a ride down Euclid Avenue. It was a time consuming and frustrating trip. Nearly empty buses were able to race through without any effort while cars were left idling along the side of the road.

The idle time at least gave me an opportunity to view all the empty store fronts, vacant office buildings and streets nearly empty of pedestrians. The only sign of life was the area near the House of Blues and the Casino. The theater district only has pedestrian traffic when people are racing to their cars after the show.

The RTA has become just another slush fund for downtown developers. Here is a condensed record of how their core business is doing:

Annual ridership levels:

1980 129 million
2008 58 million
2010 44.7 million
2011 46.2 million
2012 48.2 million

If you read the Plain Dealer you see a lot of articles about all the progress Cleveland is making as the result of all of that taxpayer subsidized building. Never mind the 50% decline in population, loss of jobs and increase in poverty. Never mind the complete lack of job creation; "things are really looking up".

I'm reminded of a story from Chinese history were the soon to be deposed emperor plaintively asked his generals why all of their "victories" were occurring closer and closer to his capital.

Bill Call wrote: ... RTA will also ban parking on Clifton ...

under what authority?? I thought RTA is a public transit agency; not a legislative body.

Peter Grossetti wrote:

Bill Call wrote: ... RTA will also ban parking on Clifton ...

under what authority?? I thought RTA is a public transit agency; not a legislative body.

We are in the post democratic era.

The various local, state and federal bureaucracies do pretty much what they want without regard to law. We saw that with the IRS testimony. A very arrogant attitude all around because they know they are unaccountable to anyone.

It's really Kafkaesque. The EPA has demanded that oil refiners mix in more than 10% ethanol in their gasoline even though auto manufacturers say using gas that is more than 10% ethanol will void engine warranties. To avoid lawsuits from car owners refiners are not adding the additional ethanol. EPA then demands billions in fines.

RTA does what it wants, when it wants for whatever reason it wants. No permission needed; no laws apply.

Bill - your Kafka reference reminds me of the 1991 movie "Kafka." (good stuff, if you like that kind of stuff)

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-synopsis/kafka/


And this from Sinclair Lewis' "Babbit" comes to mind, too.

"Babbitt spoke well--and often--at these orgies of commercial righteousness about the 'realtor's function as a seer of the future development of the community, and as a prophetic engineer clearing the pathway for inevitable changes' --which meant that a real-estate broker could make money by guessing which way the town would grow. This guessing he called Vision."

Bill

I am reading this much like you did the first time.

"West Clifton Boulevard in Lakewood to Lake Avenue in Cleveland -- are designed to turn the heavily-used street into a prettier, more bus-friendly route, traversed by new 60-foot articulated buses."

I would think more bus friendly routes, one work against Lakewood in the long run. Two
means "more bus friendly" in other words easier for buses, and bus drivers.

Followed by...

"When the project is complete, the popular 55 bus route will be known as the "West Shore Express." Buses will travel in curb lanes dedicated to buses only, with vehicles arriving at 10-minute intervals during rush hours. A new traffic signaling system will give buses priority."

I read this as much like Euclid Corridor. A bus lane with separate lights and signaling,
which mean "NO CARS" or you are ticketed. And that buses will be there every ten
minutes, and every 30 the rest of the time.

Add in that soo we will have sweeping parking problems with trash collection and recyclable
collection and this city is quickly turning into a nightmare that seems set on making life
better for ANYONE BUT THE RESIDENTS! Back to the jihad against Lakewood residents.
Also know as voters and tax payers.

When RTA said no more circulators and gave us massive empty double buses that
completely disrupt traffic on Detroit, and to be honest make it hideous to travel. One
Lakewood resident came forward with a "Lakewood Bus System" and I saw the first bus
purchased, but it would seem there was not the excitement to make public transportation
responsible to the Lakewood public by City Hall that preferred to invest into 5 Guys Burgers and such, and it met with much resistance.

This might be another great chance to say to RTA, thanks but no thanks. We need those
lanes for parking.

Then pull out another Bill Call idea, stop rush hour parking bans, that only punish Lakewood
residents for the ease of hose to the West going to a city that is still shrinking and getting smaller.

FWIW

.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:stop rush hour parking bans, that only punish Lakewood
residents for the ease of those to the West going to a city that is still shrinking and getting smaller.

FWIW

.

It's been at least three years since the City of Cleveland eliminated its rush hour parking ban on Lake. It's been a huge success. At the time I asked Nate Kelly if Lakewood would consider a similar change. I don't remember the exact answer, (probably something along the lines of "we'll consider it") but the parking ban still exists.

I don't understand the attitude that the primary focus of Lakewood traffic policy should be to ease the commute of Rocky River residents.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Bill

Add in that soon we will have sweeping parking problems with trash collection and recyclable collection and this city is quickly turning into a nightmare that seems set on making life better for ANYONE BUT THE RESIDENTS! Back to the jihad against Lakewood residents. Also known as voters and tax payers.

When RTA said no more circulators and gave us massive empty double buses that
completely disrupt traffic on Detroit, and to be honest make it hideous to travel. One
Lakewood resident came forward with a "Lakewood Bus System" and I saw the first bus
purchased, but it would seem there was not the excitement to make public transportation
responsible to the Lakewood public by City Hall that preferred to invest into 5 Guys Burgers and such, and it met with much resistance.

This might be another great chance to say to RTA, thanks but no thanks. We need those
lanes for parking.

Then pull out another Bill Call idea, stop rush hour parking bans, that only punish Lakewood
residents for the ease of hose to the West going to a city that is still shrinking and getting smaller.

FWIW

.

Well I was told by a fellow Deck-poster and reader that "nobody cares about boring meetings" but if you have a problem with the City investing in things like 5 Guys instead of something like a cool Lakewood-owned and operated bus line, maybe you do care about what the City is spending more than a million Community Development Block Grant dollars on.

According to the the City's website they are soliciting public comments on the different proposals being made about how to spend the money.

The NEXT PRESENTATION IS TOMORROW NIGHT.

According to the website:

Proposals are available for citizen review at the Department of Planning & Development located at Lakewood City Hall, 12650 Detroit Avenue, Basement Level, and via the City’s website at: http://www.onelakewood.com/ Development/CommunityDevelopment/BlockGrantProgram.aspx.

You can see the different proposals for yourself if you go the Dept of Planning and Development in the basement at City Hall. Actually I don't know if that's true since I haven't done it. The proposals don't seem to be online at the above address, but maybe I just can't find them.

Jim O'Bryan said:

I read this as much like Euclid Corridor. A bus lane with separate lights and signaling,
which mean "NO CARS" or you are ticketed. And that buses will be there every ten
minutes, and every 30 the rest of the time.

I was driving in Downtown Cleveland last week on Euclid Ave with a friend from Ashtabula who wondered outloud whether the expectation was that way less people would be Downtown because if there was any kind of traffic at all it would be a nightmare. "There is ONE lane for cars," he said. "Are they trying to keep people from coming down here?" We were sitting in 11 am traffic looking at the empty bus lane next to us. "And now we're just hanging around."

As he said that, a bunch of cars pulled into the bus lane and headed down the road. We watched as they drove right in front of a parked RTA transit police officer who didn't even look up. My friend laughed and said that was more like the Cleveland drivers he knew.

Eventually, maybe Cleveland will take itself back-- the way the drivers already have. Maybe here too?

Betsy Voinovich

Betsy Voinovich wrote:
Eventually, maybe Cleveland will take itself back-- the way the drivers already have. Maybe here too?

Betsy Voinovich

Betsy

One would ask why residents of so many cities have to take their city back.

Of course you and I have observed first hand the influence of a few people, backed with
money and funding can trick a whole county into thinking CLE+ = CLE <3, when in fact it
stands for selling out the city to the country and sovereignty of CLE+, a country with the
same GDP as Rowanda.

It was a sales campaign by the same folks that brought "Cleveland's a plum!" Of course
that didn't work to well so they went to the "Frank Luntz" playbook, or creating a cool
slogan that doesn't even apply to what they are doing and slam it home with cute none
descriptions that end up getting borrowed and used by those desperately trying to prove
they existence or cool in life.

So that even educated well meaning people start calling Cleveland CLE, as if they were
air traffic controllers. This would not be a huge issue except, it is about selling out a city
and not to the residents or even for the residents. So in a region that has completely given
over their domain to a few hucksters and shucksters for some magic beans, Cleveland and
the region flounders and continues to fall. Because they do not make communities they
make movie sets that are both faux and cancerous.

Yeah maybe they will take the city back, bu i is not in the foreseeable future cause the
only game in town is to give in to the CLE hucksters and hope that don't beat you up while
raping and taking advantage of you and yours.

Lakewood, Cleveland, much of the area suffers from low self esteem and battered wife syndrome.

FWIW

.

Bill Call wrote:As I read the article RTA will also ban parking on Clifton:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index ... icati.html

Do the residents of Lakewood have any input on this?

I read that story. A few thoughts:

"The improvements -- stretching four miles from West Clifton Boulevard in Lakewood to Lake Avenue in Cleveland -- are designed to turn the heavily-used street into a prettier, more bus-friendly route, traversed by new 60-foot articulated buses."

How is Clifton unfriendly to buses? Has the RTA driver's union complained? Have the buses complained?

Why do we need prettier streets? Guess who gets to pay the annual maintenance costs for tree-lined medians and flower boxes? We don't need high-maintenance pretty, we need low-cost functional!

"A new traffic signaling system will give buses priority.”

This means everyone else goes slower. Why do buses need priority? Is this social engineering?

"The upgrade initially called for bus stations in the center of the street, like the HealthLine on Euclid Ave. Funding snags forced a scaleback."

Thank you Mayor Summers for creating the funding snag! Lakewood does not need a Euclid corridor equivalent.

"But like the HealthLine, planners hope the Clifton improvements become economic generators for one of the metro region's busiest residential and commercial arteries."

Economic generator? Is that what the Euclid Corridor is? More like a real estate vacancy generator. These planners need a headassectomy.


RTA wants to constrict traffic on Clifton even further by reducing the street capacity by one third during rush hour. That is the effect of having a bus only lane, not to mention giving buses priority. We need more capacity during rush hour, not less. We don’t need buses getting through faster, we need everyone getting through faster.

About the only thing that makes sense in this RTA Clifton project is concrete pads at the bus stops.

The objective of streets and street lights should be to get people to where they are going quickly and safely. It seems the objective of planners everywhere is to constrict traffic as much as possible. It must be someone’s job to sit around and say “how can we screw with everyone’s commute this month?”.

"But like the HealthLine, planners hope the Clifton improvements become economic generators for one of the metro region's busiest residential and commercial arteries."

"Hope" is not a plan. Try again, Planners!

Where can I get one of these jobs where I get paid to hope? Can you image walking into your boss' office, and saying, "Hey, boss, I've decided to implement _____________(fill in the blank). I sure hope it works!"