Cleveland, OH

NOACA Study Details Dangers of Downtown Cleveland Streets, Paves Way for Solutions

Published

2 years ago

March 17, 2024

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NOACA Study Details Dangers of Downtown Cleveland Streets, Paves Way for Solutions

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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.”

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Burgess & Niple

Where bike lanes are—and are not—downtown, in teal, blue and pink, a slide from NOACA’s presentation last week showed.

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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, OH

American Cornhole League Cleveland Signature Open | April 24, 2026 | Greater Cleveland Sports Commission

Published

2 hours ago

April 22, 2026

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American Cornhole League Cleveland Signature Open | April 24, 2026 | Greater Cleveland Sports Commission

Anyone Can Play, Anyone Can Win
American Cornhole League is bringing the heat to the boards in Cleveland with $150,000 on the line. Join us on April 24-26, 2026, for elite competition where amateurs and pros collide. Whether you’re a backyard ringer or a seasoned veteran, this is your chance to…

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Cleveland, OH

Houston Astros at Cleveland Guardians prediction, pick for Tuesday 4/21/26

Published

14 hours ago

April 22, 2026

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Houston Astros at Cleveland Guardians prediction, pick for Tuesday 4/21/26

Garion Thorne gives you a preview, prediction and pick for tonight’s game between the Houston Astros and the Cleveland Guardians.

Few teams needed a win last night more than the Astros.

Houston came into Monday’s action having lost 12 of its past 14 games, while also having lost nearly as many pitchers — at least it feels that way. Just take a quick glance at this club’s IL. Hunter Brown (shoulder), Tatsuya Imai (fatigue), Cristian Javier (shoulder). Those aren’t losses that are easy to survive, and the Astros have understandably been struggling. However, after a dominating 9-2 victory, Houston can at least take a small breath.

Can the Astros make it two in a row this evening? Or will the Guardians bounce back? Let’s preview this AL clash and make a couple picks on the DraftKings Sportsbook.

Astros vs. Guardians prediction, preview

So, remember that list of injured Astros pitchers I just recited? The consequence of the length of that list, is that you have to start people like Ryan Weiss. That’s not to suggest that Weiss is completely without promise — he was a stud in the KBO in 2024 and 2025 — it’s just that the right-hander’s MLB career has gotten off to a slightly rocky start, and it’s clear that Houston currently prefers the 29-year-old as a reliever. In 14.2 innings of work, Weiss has racked up 18 strikeouts, but he’s also surrendered four home runs, 11 earned runs, and a sixth percentile opponent hard hit rate (54.5%). Weiss isn’t quite built up to be a starter, either. Well, at least not fully, as he threw a season-high 76 pitches in his last outing. That means we’re probably going to have to see a lot of the Astros’ bullpen on Tuesday, which is not a good thing. Houston’s RPs rank 29th in ERA (5.66) and they’ve served up a league-high 1.89 opponent home runs per nine. Yikes.

On the other side of this pitching matchup, we find another starter with little major league experience. That said, Parker Messick already looks like another developmental success story of the Guardians’ pitcher factory. The former second-round pick debuted in 2025, maintaining a 2.72 ERA and a 2.98 FIP across seven starts. If possible, Messick’s looked even better so far in 2026, allowing a mere three earned runs over 25.2 innings. Now, a .200 BABIP isn’t going to sustain. Neither is a 91.4% strand rate. However, when you’re limiting opponents to a 3.3% barrel rate and a 29.5% hard hit rate, you might just get a little “lucky” from time to time. It’s not like the southpaw has been skating by on a soft schedule, either. Messick has faced the Dodgers, the Braves, the Cubs and the Orioles. There isn’t a single cakewalk in there.

That pattern of difficult matchups will continue on Tuesday, as well. For as underwhelming as the Astros’ record is, it’s mostly a byproduct of poor pitching. The offense has actually been one of the best in all of baseball. Houston actually leads all American League teams in wOBA (.350) and wRC+ (124), with Yordan Alvarez leading the charge. He’s been fantastic in left-on-left scenarios, too. In his 36 plate appearances within the split, Alvarez is slashing .448/.528/1.034 with a 315 wRC+. I don’t want to discount Jose Ramirez, who has six homers and 10 stolen bases for the Guardians, yet a healthy Alvarez is easily the best bat in this series. He’s that good.

Astros vs. Guardians pick, best bet

Best Bet: Jose Ramirez 2+ Total Bases (+107)

Weiss has a 6.27 FIP. The Astros’ bullpen has given up the most opponent home runs per nine (1.89). Ramirez probably won’t be in a single bad matchup this evening, and that’s before you factor in that the All-Star is a switch-hitter.

Strong Lean: Ryan Weiss 4+ Strikeouts (+123)

While Weiss’ surface numbers aren’t great, he has managed four strikeouts in two of his three outings where he’s thrown 60+ pitches. He’s struck out 18 in 14.2 innings and I expect he’ll flirt with the 90-pitch plateau on Tuesday.

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Cleveland, OH

Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 4/21/26: You’ll Take this Draft Speculation and You’ll Like It

Published

1 day ago

April 21, 2026

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Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 4/21/26: You’ll Take this Draft Speculation and You’ll Like It

CLEVELAND, Ohio (TheOBR.com) – Hello, Cleveland Browns fans!

Three days until the NFL Draft. Three. Days. My coffee is strong, my patience for mock drafts is not, and somewhere out there, a draftnik is writing his 47th “why the Browns should definitely pick X at 6” piece. We have arrived at the point in the calendar where every possible permutation has been considered, rejected, re-considered, and published. And yet, here I am, starring articles and talking about them, so who am I to judge?

THE DEFAULT SOLUTION: Over at the Chronicle-Telegram, Scott Petrak profiled Carnell Tate as the king of contested catch – the latest in a long line of Ohio State receivers, and it ties in nicely with a topic we talked about during last night’s Gang of Three.

At this point, there’s no consensus among the draftniks and the mock drafters on who the Browns will take at #6. There have been at various points, but now you’re getting random answers. “Trade down” seems to be the leader, but that may not happen because other teams above the Browns are thinking the same thing, which could screw things up for Andrew Berry and crew. The fallback then seems to be WR Carnell Tate (according to media consensus), but I sense that the massive ecosystem of draft “experts” and wannabe experts has long grown bored with this idea and decided that the Browns shouldn’t “settle” on Tate. So, we’re seeing defensive BPAs and others show up frequently.

But let’s go back to something I’ve said before – mock drafts are often more accurate earlier in the process than later, when the people writing them get bored with the obvious and start throwing curveballs into the mock drafts to keep themselves amused. At the end of the day, if the NFL trading game isn’t cooperating with the Browns, there’s still a very good chance that Tate will be the selection.

So, I advanced this notion last night, and we came back to the original thought that Tate was still a damn good pick at that point, even if one of our crew has been advocating for Makai Lemon for months. As an unabashed Buckeye fan, I’m coming full circle on this idea.

CAMP MONKEN STARTS: Let’s start with the one piece of actual new news: Todd Monken’s voluntary minicamp wrapped with plenty of questions, especially at QB. I’ll spare you my fatigue on that particular topic – we’ve been over the QB situation enough times that my keyboard is starting to file a grievance. Suffice to say: the Browns do not have their quarterback, and the draft is unlikely to fully solve that.

What we do have is a different philosophy on the QB competition, where the facade that all contestants are treated equally is being discarded. This will also give us our first look at the post-Achilles Deshaun Watson, to see if he looks in any way different from the Watson of recent years, who offered little after kickoff in real games. We’ll have Fred Greetham and Pete Smith out at practice today, and expect to hear from them later this afternoon.

Gang of Three, Three Days Away edition is available on YouTube if you missed it. Thursday, we light up the Draft Cave for the full first round. Strap in – we’re almost there.

Have a good one! GO BROWNS!

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THE LIFT

Positive news from the world of sports and beyond…

I had computer problems this morning, and the stories I saved for the Lift were lost, a tragedy so intense that I’m struggling to write about it. Suffice it to say, somewhere there’s a human being awesome to animals, or a dog returning that favor. One article I do remember was about a sequel to the 1980’s underrated sci-fi movie “The Last Starfighter” being developed as a graphic novel. That movie looked like a Star Wars rip-off when it came out, but turned out to be a surprisingly fun movie. Not sure if I’m the only one who remembers it, but I have fond memories of seeing it in the theater.

WRAPPING UP

When not remembering when he had L33t video game skills, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.