Long the subject of debate amongst shop owners, Market Avenue's closure signifies a word kept by the Bibb administration, though after what many consider a long delay and radio silence.
Like Mayor Bibb's speed table pilots, and his backing of Council's Complete and Green Streets legislation last July, the pedestrianization of one of Ohio City's most walkable streets could lead to a domino effect for others with like potential. And, most importantly, a financial rebound for the businesses that yearned to see cars gone.
"There was just no good reason not to close it," Karen Small, the co-owner of the Pearl Street Wine Market & Cafe who had long been advocating for its closure, told Cleveland Scene on Wednesday. "It seemed like a no-brainer to get this done. And now, well, we finally all seem to be on the same page."
In a Q&A-style press release, Jessica Trivisonno, the West Side Market senior strategist who will oversee Market's pedestrianized era, said that bollards will block the street's eastern portion that runs into the West Side Market. Bike racks and signage will dot the western side, while, the release says, "the city
assesses options for more permanent infrastructure."
Reached by phone, Trivisonno told Scene that the long delays freeing Market of cars was due primarily to the search for the proper path toward closure.
In 2019, a simple road obstruction permit, typically meant for parades, sufficed for summertime. During the pandemic, deeming Market a temporary expansion area worked until such permit expired in 2021.
After COVID, Trivisonno and her colleagues at the Mayor’s Office were still head-scratching: Do we need a road vacation ordinance? Some sort of state legislation? Moreover, the glamorous reopening of legacy avenues in Manhattan came with their own spattering of legal rebuttals, of concerns for ADA accessibility, and so on.
In mid-August, Trivisonno and team found their in: Market Avenue, according to historical title research, was never actually deemed a road.
“It was never dedicated,” Trivisonno told Scene. “The street is, based on property research, what we’ve called Market Avenue was treated as an extension of the nearby park,” Market Square. So, that’s it: the Avenue is today what is was yesteryear, a park extension.
In 2019, a simple road obstruction permit, typically meant for parades, sufficed for summertime. During the pandemic, deeming Market a temporary expansion area worked until such permit expired in 2021.
After COVID, Trivisonno and her colleagues at the Mayor’s Office were still head-scratching: Do we need a road vacation ordinance? Some sort of state legislation? Moreover, the glamorous reopening of legacy avenues in Manhattan came with their own spattering of legal rebuttals, of concerns for ADA accessibility, and so on.
In mid-August, Trivisonno and team found their in: Market Avenue, according to historical title research, was never actually deemed a road.
“It was never dedicated,” Trivisonno told Scene. “The street is, based on property research, what we’ve called Market Avenue was treated as an extension of the nearby park,” Market Square. So, that’s it: the Avenue is today what is was yesteryear, a park extension.
The eight, 15-minute parking spots that previously existed on Market—those that, Small said, were abused—will effectively be transferred to increased metered parking on West 26th Street, where delivery trucks will be assigned to load and unload. Such replacement sits in line with what Ohio City Incorporated had been proposing for years, and what some skeptics saw as a plausible business deterrent.
For Small, who invested $120,000 in her café in part due to its "obvious" morphing into a pedestrianized street, the closure carries with it some exciting implications, other than just the space for, as Small puts it, an urban playground.
Starting in September, just weeks after Market's shutoff to cars, Small is planning to help host a Sausage and Clam Fest, which will take place, in part, on the avenue. Later this fall, Ohio City will host its first Nati Wine Fest, a grape-lathered staple in Cincinnati and Columbus, on Market.
Which, of course, Small said wouldn't be possible without allowing walkers the freedom of space to roam.
"We are reliant on the closure," she said. "There's no way we could do it without closing the street."
As both Ohio City business guru and Councilman Kerry McCormack have suggested in past interviews, Market's closure could lead to other wins for walkability.
Market could be next in line for Cleveland's third Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA. Portions of Hingetown or even West 25th Street could see their pavements occupied by more shoes than tire tread in the near future.
"I know it's already September, summer's about to end," Small said, laughing. "But now it's happening, and it's forever. Now, there's no looking back."
UPDATED 08/31/3:25 p.m. Updated with comment from Jessica Trivisonno.
