Op-Ed: The Safety of Clevelanders Is Not Up for Debate

The 2024 St. Patrick’s Day parade in Cleveland Credit: Photo by Emanuel Wallace

The St. Patrick’s Day parade has a long and storied history in Cleveland, tracing back to at least 1842. Over the last century and a half, parade organizers, participants, and routes have adapted to the social, political, and religious dynamics of the time. Over the years, Cleveland’s Irish community has marched on almost every street in the downtown core, across the Cuyahoga River in each direction, and through the Flats, building a legacy of people and place that transcends any one parade and has become interwoven with the rich and diverse historical tapestry of Cleveland. The story of Irish Americans in Cleveland is one of resiliency, vibrancy, and a deep commitment to sustaining cultural ties, with the St. Patrick’s Day parade as a foundational cornerstone. The City of Cleveland itself has a long history as a steadfast partner in the parade production, providing more than $245,000 of in-kind security and event logistics support to the parade on an annual basis.
However, the City is also responsible for making our streets as safe and welcoming as possible for day-in and day-out use. We receive more feedback from residents about road safety concerns and requests for traffic calming than almost any other topic. Data bear out these anecdotes — in 2024, over 300 people experienced life-changing injury or death as a result of traffic crashes within our city. The Superior Midway project – a $25 million capital investment along Superior Avenue from Public Square to E. 55th Street over a decade in the making – addresses the roadway dynamics that contribute to dangerous driving by resurfacing the street and adding a landscaped center median with a two-way bike path and enhanced midblock crosswalks. Engineering solutions like these have been proven to increase road safety for everyone — whether people are walking, riding bikes, or driving vehicles — by narrowing lanes, slowing speeds, and reducing crash severity. These types of safety improvements are essential on streets like Superior, which experiences higher rates of fatal, serious injury, property damage, pedestrian, and bicycle crashes than similar streets statewide.

The Cleveland St. Patrick’s Day parade has occurred on Superior Avenue for the better part of the past two decades. As part of a detailed community engagement process with businesses and stakeholders to inform the Superior Midway design, City staff met regularly—ten times, in total—with St. Patrick’s Day parade organizers to explore adjustments such as changes to landscaping, buffer treatments, and curb details that could better accommodate the event. Together, we resolved many aspects of parade staging, public safety access, and unit spacing, but the parade committee ultimately decided the roadway space remaining on Superior Avenue after the Midway project is completed will be too constrained for their needs.

The City of Cleveland is at the table to work with parade organizers to determine a new Downtown Cleveland route for the parade beginning in 2027 using any of Downtown’s numerous other streets. (The parade will remain on its current Superior Avenue route in 2025 and 2026.) Like Cleveland itself, the St. Patrick’s Day parade has persisted over time by adapting and adjusting to meet the needs of the moment. We know it is possible to both have safer streets and continue the legacy of the Downtown Cleveland St. Patrick’s Day parade. We look forward to evolving forward together for the next chapter.

Calley Mersmann is the City of Cleveland’s senior strategist for transit and mobility.

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