Cleveland, OH
NOACA Study Details Dangers of Downtown Cleveland Streets, Paves Way for Solutions
Mark Oprea
Cyclists downtown last summer. A recent study by NOACA teased bike lanes in Cleveland’s future.
Last Friday, in a boardroom at the Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency, a team of transportation consultants from Columbus detailed the culmination of three years of studies done on the streets of Downtown Cleveland.
The results, in a 45-slide presentation, clarified the area’s need for a makeover: To put roughly 80 percent of its streets on a road diet—shortening their widths. To build center medians on those like East 9th. To link bike lane pathways already in planning stages.
“You can see a little bit of a network forming, but not a lot,” Steve Thieken, a planning specialist at Burgess & Niple, the firm responsible for the study, said at last week’s meeting, according to Cleveland.com. “Compared to peer cities, many have a more completed system.”
What the end product of NOACA’s three-year Downtown Livability and Transportation Study does, besides acknowledge Downtown’s gaping lack of safe bike lane infrastructure, is two-fold.
Besides laying foreshadowing framework for the City Mobility Plan, NOACA’s downtown overlook—which cost a quarter of a million dollars—will enable the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects, and other departments, to pinpoint and better apply for state and federal funds that could, one day, pave way for actual construction.
Which, the study pointed out, carries both elements of contemporary design and a glowing need to remake streets into safer transportation routes. Along with a meaty proposal for, say, throwing a center lane and bike path onto the four-to-six lane beast that is East 9th St., the study found that 40 percent of those surveyed regularly felt unsafe riding bikes or scooters.
NOACA’s notch in Cleveland’s pursuit of more modern street design contributes to a growing narrative for what the city itself could look like in the next decade, as more gradually come further in line under a principle becoming more obvious: we need to right the wrongs of past planning decisions.
Or, as a slide labeled “Untapped”in Friday’s presentation put it: “Many downtown streets are designed for rush hour and special event traffic, which can lead to higher vehicle speeds during non-peak hours.” In other words, infrastructure drives behavior.
“People have to remember that streets aren’t only for automobiles,” NOACA President Grace Gallucci told Scene in a call Thursday. “And that’s how you have to discuss this with people for [these plans] to make sense. And I mean, people who are driving want to be safe too.”
Burgess & Niple
Where bike lanes are—and are not—downtown, in teal, blue and pink, a slide from NOACA’s presentation last week showed.
Burgess & Niple
Where bike lanes and shortened streets could be or will be in Cleveland’s future.
And just as long as NOACA’s been developing its study—and much, much longer in Greater Cleveland lore—ideas on which Downtown streets to overhaul have been gathering.
As its study teased last Friday, those ideas are wide-ranging: six total cycle tracks on Downtown’s east side; a bike trail that runs from Public Square to Progressive Field; an East 9th Greenspace Corridor that links Downtown’s front door to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
“Oh, that’s such an unpleasant experience,” Audrey Gerlach, the VP of economic development for Downtown Cleveland, Inc., a partner in NOACA’s study, said. “I don’t want to push a stroller, or a wheelchair [down East 9th], even as an able-bodied person.”
“To me, this is definitely not an if but a when,” Gerlach added. “Consultants in town to study this is important—but we all instinctively know that East 9th is dangerous.”
As for actually making East 9th safer, and not just more aesthetically pleasing with tree lines and median refuges (resting spots in the middle of crosswalks), only City Hall itself is in the jurisdiction to bring Downtown’s streets into the 21st century.
Calley Mersmann, a senior strategist for transportation and member of the city’s Mobility Team, told Scene that the study she helped steer over the past three years has real world applications as far as bankrolling projects to enhance Downtown’s walkability. Mersmann suggested that the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects, along with other departments, could leverage said study into grant funding from—ironically—NOACA’s own Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative. (Up to $2 million a year, though.)
“Because this plan exists,” she put it simply, “we can tap into that.”
As for the Mobility Plan, which could include a network of unified bike lanes across the city, that should be released to the public by early 2025.
NOACA’s study …
“This plan kind of took those ideas to the next step by instituting them as recommendations,” she said.
Her colleague, and active transportation planner, Sarah Davis agreed. “It’s helpful to have that zoomed in perspective as we’re going into this citywide,” Davis said. “And to be able to focus in more specifically. That this is out there, and people are thinking about it.”
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CLEVELAND — For the first time in U.S. history, a Navy warship will be commissioned in Ohio.
Commissioning a ship is a time-honored naval tradition that formally places a ship into active duty.
The USS Cleveland arrived in its namesake city on Saturday, coasting into Cleveland’s North Coast Yard. It’s the fourth ship in U.S. Navy history to bear the name Cleveland.
“It’s a little bit bigger than a flight deck. About 25% bigger,” said Commanding Officer Bruce Hallett. “And it’s higher up, the water makes it a little easier for pilots to be able to land on it. So they like it.”
Hallett has served with the Navy for more than 20 years.
“There are up and overs. So these flags are actually single flags. So we have quartermasters on board,” Hallett said of the colorful flags seen across the ship. “So they can use these to send signals to other ships. But in this capacity right here, they’re just purely for decoration.”
Inside the ship, the decorations pay homage to Cleveland, with two murals in the waterborne mission zone depicting key landmarks and Cleveland Browns signs in the gym.
“It’s all swagged out with all kinds of Cleveland Browns stuff new,” said Hallett. “We got the colors down there, the flags, the towels. It looks phenomenal. And the crew loves it.”
Sailors have been touring the city throughout the week, and Executive Officer Adam Cline has been coordinating community relations events with the crew. He sent two specific sailors to City Hall.
“We have two members of our crew that are from Cleveland,” Hall said. “That’s where they grew up. So it was real nice to incorporate them into that and to get a great memento from the city, a nice flag for us.”
The USS Cleveland will be commissioned Saturday and then head to its home port of Florida. When the ship eventually retires, the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation hopes to bring it back to become a museum.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A U.S. Navy warship will be commissioned in Ohio on Saturday for the first time in 250 years.
The USS Cleveland is docked on Lake Erie ahead of the 10 a.m. ceremony.
Commander Bruce Hallett has commanded the USS Cleveland for more than two years.
“It is extremely exciting to be able to bring the USS Cleveland here to Cleveland and to be able to commission this ship here — obviously to introduce it to the city so that they can see the ship that bears their name,” Hallett said. “This has been a long time coming.”
The ship’s hallways are named after Cleveland streets, including East 9th and St. Clair Avenue.
A mural honoring the city of Cleveland is displayed on board. The Navy says it is rare to see something like this on a warship.
“Amazing mural, right? We’re so proud to have that on board,” Hallett said. “We’re just pretty much in awe when we saw all the stuff that we have in the city, and now we have it as part of the Cleveland. We love it as a crew.”
The ship’s weight room was outfitted by the Cleveland Browns with flags, towels, and mats.
“The Browns came and added their own touches to that weight room,” Hallett said. “So it’s all swagged out with all kinds of Cleveland Browns stuff now.”
The ship carries a crew of about 90, including two sailors who grew up in Cleveland.
The USS Cleveland is the final Freedom-variant littoral combat ship to be commissioned in the U.S. Navy.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
A trio of locally made films will grace area screens, here is your Movie Nerd Report for the week of May 11-17.
Thursday evening will bring the red-carpet premiere of “The Last Shop On Walnut” at the Cedar Lee Theatre (2163 Lee Rd Cleveland Heights, OH 44118) . The film, which was written and directed by Jason Richardson, was mostly shot in Ravenna. It stars Peter Lawson Jones and Cleveland native Kym Whitley. The screening will benefit the Charles & Margaret Jones Endowed Scholarship Fund at College Now. Tickets can be found at this link.
Can’t make the premiere? The Cedar Lee will be playing the film for at least a full week starting Friday!
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“Blood & Rust” the debut feature from Kent State alumni Jeremy Herbert, will be coming to Cranked Up TV on May 19 and The Ashland Cinema (212 Center Street Ashland, OH 44805) will be offering a screening of it this Friday evening at 7 p.m., and it is free!
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. the Capitol Theatre (1390 W.65th Street Cleveland, OH 44102) will present the directorial debut of Frank Calo IV in “Last Call”. Sounds like this one is poised to sell out so click here to grab your tickets.
Over at the Cleveland Cinematheque (11610 Euclid Ave Cleveland, OH 44118) :
Cleveland is fortunate to be one of the five select cities of the Future of Film Is Female Series which highlights films from female and nonbinary filmmakers. The first film in this series kicks off Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with the Midwest road trip film, “Dreams In Nightmares.”
Thursday at 9 p.m. and Friday at 9 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Dutch classic “Malpertius,” which features Orson Welles.
Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. they will present the Italian dramedy “The Last One For The Road.”
Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:35 p.m. they will present a documentary that explores the effects of colonialism on Northern Argentina in “Our Land.”
Saturday at 8:50 p.m. and Sunday at 5:45 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Argentinian film “The Headless Woman”
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. they will present the documentary “Four Rational People,” which looks at the Emerson String Quartet’s final performance.
More information about the films and ticket prices are at: cinematheque.cia.edu
At the Nightlight Cinema (30 N High Street Akron, OH 44308):
One of the most acclaimed films of the year is the Canadian drama “Blue Herron,” it is the feature debut of Sophy Romvari, who gained attention for her short films.
They also will be playing the documentary “Steal This Story, Please,” which highlights independent investigative journalist Amy Goodman.
More Information about the films and ticket prices are at: nightlightcinema.com
This weekend there are a trio of new films opening in wide release: The first is one that I would recommend if you are a horror fan – “Obsession”. This film continues a trend where we are seeing Youtubers become filmmakers, in this case it is 26-year-old Curry Barker. This is a spin on “be careful what you wish for” when a young man makes a wish for his crush to love him more than anything else in the world, and it gets increasingly disturbing from there. I personally loved it and thought the performance from actress Inde Navarrette will make her a star.
“Is God Is” is a revenge tale which was based on an award-winning play by Alesha Harris. Harris makes her feature directorial debut and currently the film stands at 95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!
The other film opening is the latest from director Guy Ritchie, the action-thriller “In The Grey” with Jake Gyllenhall and Henry Cavill.
Rounding out this busy week are some anniversaries hitting screens in “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” for one week to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Tony Scott’s original, and the original “Shrek” is also playing for one week to commemorate its 25th Anniversary (Anniversaries like this are making your resident movie nerd feel old!).
Lastly, I just wanted to wish congratulations to my longtime friend Dave Huffman, who has just been named the new director of The Cleveland Cinematheque! If you have ever attended some of the Late Shift Series back in the day at the Cedar Lee or Capitol, or the 12 Hours of Terror, you know that Dave is a huge cinephile and I am certain will do a great job at the Cinematheque!
Until next week my friends, see ya at the movies!
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