RTA
A rendering recently released by the RTA shows how West 25th Street could be redone to better service transit riders and pedestrians. A similar approach, the RTA said, could come to its Lorain Corridor.
In the local transit authority's pursuit of more convenient, regular service to outer areas and development of housing along high-frequency corridors, the RTA yesterday announced it has received a $700,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration.
That check, a part of $17.6 million of grants heading to some 20 cities, comes from the FTA's largest payout from its pilot program for Transit-Oriented Development, a Biden administration bid to "encourage ridership," a release read, "by developing housing and businesses near transit corridors."
RTA's corridor of question is a 16-mile stretch of Lorain Avenue, running from West 25th Street to a run-in with Great Northern Boulevard. RTA plans to use the funds to study both bus rapid transit line improvements, along with apartments and retail, along such a line.
A plan would look at possible bike lanes, pedestrian access (new stops), and links to existing business hubs in Ohio City and Fairview Park, Mike Schipper, RTA's deputy general manager of engineering, told Scene on Wednesday. Really, anything a quarter of a mile north or south of the street.
"Part of the TOD pilot is to look at potential land uses, and enhancing the density along this corridor," Schipper said. "It could be housing. It could be commercial. It could be roadway configuration."
In 2020, RTA released a 10-Year Strategic Plan that eyed huge hopes for revitalizing its dipping ridership levels with the optimistic tinge of walkable development. Instead of marking large stretches to fringe cities, RTA shifted its focus to corridors, its 2020 plan reads, "where development could be emphasized in partnership with local stakeholders."
The goals, though diverted by a global pandemic, were laid out: to have four transit corridor projects in the loop by 2026. Lorain Avenue, like many areas the City Planning Commission is eager to densify, was on its priority list.
Mark Oprea
Mike Schipper, deputy manager of engineering and project management, will be leading a study of a new Lorain Corridor, which received grant support from the FTA on Tuesday.
A study of these 15 miles, currently host to the 22 and 55 bus lines, would dovetail with City Planning's Lorain Midway study, which aims to repave the four-lane street, from West 25th to West 65th, with a cycle track, defined bus lanes and new bus stops. (And, as many businesses fear, possibly taking away a quarter to half of Lorain's on-street parking.)
Making over a road that stretches through three very different cities, Schipper said, presents both challenges and some good timeline match-ups.
For one, North Olmsted's Department of Economic Development is itching to replace a good chunk of the 75 acres of parking at the Great Northern Mall with apartments. And, Schipper added, in-progress housing near the Red Line's 65th Street and 25th Street stations pair nicely with what a revamped Lorain Corridor can do to ridership.
Which has always been the rub for the RTA. Even reopening its Waterfront Line, which had been idled since 2021, for Browns home games led to about 2,400 riders on average every Sunday. That's still about a fourth of what ridership averaged in the line's infancy.
Schipper optimistically nodded to the RTA's incoming new rail cars, 30 of which are slated to arrive on its Red Line tracks in the summer of 2026. Schipper said the RTA's "just under" $30 million short of its $393 million bill.
"We're trying to get that last bit," he said. "And we will get it."
A request for proposal for the Lorain Corridor study, Schipper said, should be made public in early 2025.
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