The busiest light-rail station in Shaker Heights is this one — the Blue Line terminus at Warrensville in the Van Aken District. This station and its new busway transfer area, along with 21 other Shaker Heights stations, will get new passenger amenities based on their usage (GCRTA). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Station improvement work to start this summer
When the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) new trains enter service in the next few years, they will be picking up and dropping off riders at more attractive and user-friendly stations in Shaker Heights. That’s due to a $2 million program to enhance station amenities at all 22 stations in this eastern suburb that was built around its two light-rail lines, the Blue and Green lines.
Three contracts are on track to the approved by the GCRTA’s Board of Trustees at its next meeting, Jan. 21. Funding to support those contracts is coming from Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funds administered by the Federal Transit Administration and awarded through the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency with a 20 percent local match.
One contract is for replacing 36 existing station shelters with new ones offering an overhang that provides waiting riders with more protection from the weather — a result of input from the Shaker Heights Architectural Review Board. Tolar Manufacturing Company, Inc. of Corona, CA was awarded the bid for an amount up to $826,750.
The shelters will be located mostly on platforms next to westbound tracks, at busier rail/bus transfers points on the eastbound sides, and at the busway at the Warrensville Blue Line station. All shelters will be replaced on a one-for-one basis, meaning that if a station doesn’t already have a shelter, it won’t get a new one.
Enlarge this Shaker Heights map (north is at the top) and use the key to identify which improvements are going to be made at which stations — and even which sides of the stations along the two-tracked Blue and Green light-rail lines. The extent of amenities is based on where most passengers are waiting for trains and bus transfers such as at Lee and Warrensville roads. But all stations will at least get benches (GCRTA).
A second contract is for installing electronic train/bus status signage at select locations at rail stations and their bus transfer points. Lesser-used platforms, mainly on the eastbound tracks, could get push-to-talk button features to get train status information if GCRTA exercises a contract option. Winning a five-year installation and service bid of $477,665 was Connectpoint Inc. of Goleta, CA.
A third contract is for station site modifications like adding concrete pads for the placement of shelters, benches at eastbound platforms, installation of solar lights and solar signs, and the furnishing of bike racks and trash cans. Northeast Ohio Trenching Service Inc. of Warrensville Heights was awarded a $293,000 bid for the work.
All contracts based on the bids are subject to approval of the GCRTA board with one exception. There will be a fourth program component to include station landscaping. But since it can be done for less than $100,000, that contract does not have to be board-approved.
If the trio of contacts are approved, GCRTA staff said they expect that installation work will get underway this summer and be completed by next spring. Because eight Blue Line stations along Van Aken Boulevard are due to be rebuilt in the coming years with new trackside platforms and “mini-high” ramps for disabled passengers for $16 million, the new shelters will be designed so they can be temporarily moved during construction.
A simplified rendering of new shelters at all westbound train boarding locations and at some eastbound locations, especially where bus transfers are made. Electricity for lighting in the shelters and electronic train/bus status signs will be provided from solar panels. Where there are shade trees next to shelters, solar panels will be placed on stanchions and located away from the shade (GCRTA).
Last year, GCRTA won a $16 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) to rebuild platforms at eight Blue Line stations along Van Aken Boulevard. Three Blue Line station — Lee, Farnsleigh and Warrensville — were or are being rebuilt separately.
A similar grant is being sought for eight Green Line stations along Shaker Boulevard as well, except for Lee and Warrensville which were already rebuilt. The transit agency hopes to have all Shaker Heights stations rebuilt prior to the introduction of its new fleet of light-rail trains starting in August 2027.
“I’m super excited about this project,” GCRTA General Manager and CEO India Birdsong Terry. “I share that enthusiasm with the board. Just to keep in mind, digital signage is included in the package but also digital advertising for the future. It could be a stream of revenue for the future that we may want to look into as we start to gain more ridership on all of our modes going forward. So it could be a great opportunity for that.”
David Weiss, mayor of Shaker Heights and GCRTA board member, said he was particularly happy to have community input into the design of the shelters. He said the light-rail system is very important to Shaker Heights as it connects the Van Aken District, the Green Road park-n-ride and the Chagrin-Lee corridor to Shaker Square and ultimately to downtown Cleveland and Hopkins International Airport.
All westbound station platforms and bus transfer locations on the Blue and Green lines in Shaker Heights will get these “epaper” digital passenger information signs to transmit real-time light-rail arrival estimates, route information and alerts (Connectpoint).
“Light-rail access is a selling point for Shaker Heights so these upgrades are especially welcome,” Weiss said in an e-mail to NEOtrans.
Total cost of the three contracts is $1.6 million. GCRTA will install the shelters using its own workforce and equipment to keep the total station program costs below $2 million total. The transit agency could have done the whole program with one general contractor who would subcontract the different components. But GCRTA will essentially serve as the general contractor and administer the contractors in-house.
“Yes, our staff is going to have to expend a little bit more effort in coordinating, but they’re up to it,” said Michael Schipper, GCRTA’s deputy general manager of engineering and project management. “In this case, breaking it (up into multiple contracts) was the right thing to do.”
“The fact that our own forces are doing the installation, they have the equipment and ability to move them if necessary when we do the platform modification project two to three years from now,” Schipper added. “So that’s being taken into account.”
At GCRTA’s Operational Planning and Infrastructure Committee meeting held Jan. 7, board members questioned the timing of the station amenities work to occur before the station platforms are to be rebuilt. The committee recommended the full board approve the three contracts at its Jan. 21 meeting.
“An issue when we do the eight Blue Line stations, that we’re going to be doing the design work on this year as part of the ASAP grant we won,” Schipper responded. “We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that we’re not spending a lot of money and then destroying it two years from now.”
He noted that, since most passengers waiting to board trains are on platforms for the westbound track at the north side of stations, that’s where most of the investments will be made to improve waiting environments. Most eastbound passengers are getting off trains from downtown so they don’t need waiting areas — except at bus transfers like Lee and Warrensville roads. The least-used stations in terms of boardings will get new benches, however.
Additionally, bidding is getting underway for GCRTA’s $6 million reconstruction of the Blue Line’s Warrensville rail station at the Van Aken District. This follows the construction of a new busway and waiting area for bus transfers. The rail station will get a new ADA-compliant platform and a climate-controlled “comfort station” where passengers can wait for their trains.
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