PLAN PURPOSE
In 2021, the City of Cleveland applied for and was awarded a RAISE Planning Grant through FHWA to build upon the 2019 Downtown Revitalization Initiative. This effort was spurred by the community’s vision to provide an east-west connection over the railroad owned and operated by Norfolk-Southern (NS) that runs through the heart of downtown. With an at-grade crossing on 3rd Street that creates delays for vehicles including first responders, and a low-clearance grade-separated railroad bridge on Inman Street/US 64/SR 40 that experiences frequent bridge strikes, there was a clear need to plan for alternative vehicular and pedestrian movements.
The Cleveland East-West Connector Plan seeks to evaluate transportation needs, project impacts, and project costs and benefits for a new roadway, and include recommendations for new roadway alignments and potential cross sections within downtown. Additionally, the Plan will provide preliminary plans to subsequently feed into preliminary engineering (PE) and final design for the elimination of the existing at-grade railroad crossing, including the identification of any high-level right-of-way (ROW) needs for connecting the proposed section.
This Plan aims to achieve five outcomes for the City of Cleveland:
• Address railroad crossings
• Improve connectivity for underserved neighborhoods
• Improve pedestrian amenities
• Preserve and enhance connections with major routes for people and freight
• Optimize opportunities for brownfield redevelopment, environmental justice, and system preservation.