Joe Fivas
By TIM SINIARD
Lessons learned.
On Monday, Cleveland City Manager Joe Fivas updated the members of the Cleveland City Council regarding the future of the citys planned streetscaping project for the Inman Street Corridor, which runs through downtown Cleveland.
Fivas remarks took place during the City Councils work session held at the Municipal Building.
Late last year, the city of Cleveland learned it was not to receive a $17 million U.S. Department of Transportation Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development Grant, which would have funded the citys revitalization of the Inman Street Corridor.
Instead, USDOT announced the city of Memphis was the only city in Tennessee to receive the grant.
Cleveland city officials vowed to reapply for the grant this year.
One of the things that we want to talk about is changing the scope of the Build Grant, and it's kind of a lessons learned-type scenario, Fivas said. Instead of focusing more on Inman street, which is an infrastructure grant, we want to use the grant to work on infrastructure around the Whirlpool property."
Despite the strategy change, revamping Inman Street will remain a big part of that effort.
The multi-million grant would have played a key role in the first phase of the citys implementation of its Downtown Redevelopment Master Plan, unveiled earlier last year.
The 1.2-mile Inman Street Corridor project, which involves the length of roadway from Keith Street to East Street, would have been the first step in the citys downtown revitalization initiative, dubbed a reimagining of the heart of downtown Cleveland."
A key element of the project includes reducing the number of lanes from four to three to slow traffic as it passes through downtown, where future implementation of the citys Downtown Redevelopment Master Plan will feature parks, green spaces, a proposed sports complex, hotels, apartments and townhouses.
The master plan also proposes a new tree-lined streetscape design for Inman Street, with sidewalks, medians and roundabouts to facilitate traffic flow.
According to the master plan, Inman Street would be placed on a "road diet."
Although Inman Street would be less one lane, it would gain designated turn lanes separated by medians. As a result, drivers of vehicles wanting to make turns will no longer cause traffic to back up as they await a green light to allow them to make a turn.
A traffic study conducted by engineering consulting firm Volkert in advance of the submittal of the BUILD grant application, found that the road diet would not adversely impact traffic flow downtown.
The analyses included in this report indicate that the impacts of a road diet along Inman Street from Keith Street to East Street in Cleveland will not significantly affect the signalized intersections, and will only improve the operations at the unsignalized intersections," the Volkert traffic study found. The volumes, as well as vehicular and pedestrian characteristics along Inman Street, make this corridor a good candidate for a road diet.
By shifting focus to include the area closer to the former site of Whirlpool Plants 1 and 2, Fivas said the city will have better chances of qualifying for the grant.
Were looking at options and ideas on what that will look like, Fivas said. We think it's probably a better story to tell ... we think it's a better narrative.
In addition, he said the city is seeking ways to reduce the project to a cost- neutral perspective from what was already submitted in last years grant application.
Fivas said USDOT will send out a notice in February soliciting grant applications.
Then we will be on the clock, and we would have the next iteration of that application available in July, he said.
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City's next downtown grant bid to expand its scope - Cleveland Daily Banner
