The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s West 117th-Madison Red Line station, where Cleveland meets Lakewood, is set to reopen early Friday morning after being closed for major repairs for more than a year (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Year-long bridge, platform repairs done
After more than one year of reconstruction work and an unexpected cost increase, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) West 117th-Madison Red Line station is due to reopen to rail passengers at the start of transit service on Friday. GCRTA announced the reopening today.
The $8.8 million reconstruction of the station platform and tracks which cross West 117th Street on three bridge decks linking Cleveland and Lakewood began in July 2024. The station was “closed indefinitely” on July 17 of last year.
“We appreciate the patience and flexibility that our riders have shown during this closure, and we now welcome them back to a revitalized Red Line station, where a huge amount of refurbishment was accomplished,” said GCRTA Deputy General Manager Engineering & Project Management Michael Schipper, in a written statement.
The first train, a westbound, serving the Red Line station is scheduled at about 3:25 a.m. Friday. The first eastbound is about one hour later. However, the online schedule, updated Aug. 3, still shows no trains scheduled to stop there.
When construction crews removed the station platform and bridge decks over West 117th Street late last year, they discovered lead-based paint on the tops of the bridges. That halted repair work until the lead paint could be safely removed (GCRTA).
Red Line trains run every 15 minutes in each direction between Cleveland Hopkins Airport, Tower City in Downtown Cleveland and Windermere in East Cleveland. The Red Line is Ohio’s busiest transit route, carrying 3.2 million riders in 2024, according to GCRTA.
“Now Red Line riders who utilize this station will be able to take the train to the upcoming Cleveland Guardians games and Cleveland National Air Show this holiday weekend,” Schipper added.
Throughout the reconstruction work, the station has been open to bus service on the No. 78 on West 117th-Puritas and the No. 25 on Madison-Clark which connect to other Red Line stations and other bus routes.
This rehabilitation project extends the service life of three 72-year-old bridges and adjoining platform over West 117th. Site work included a concrete transit deck replacement, new Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) platform, structural steel retrofits, patched city concrete curb walls and replaced city sidewalk handrails along West 117th.
A steel bridge deck over West 117th Street, next to the station platform at left, is shown here for the westbound Red Line track. It was built in 1953 and needed significant repairs (GCRTA).
In 2023, GCRTA’s board hired Suburban Maintenance and Construction Inc. of North Royalton for $7.56 million to repair the station bridge decks and associated work. The bid submitted by the company was considered by GCRTA to be the only responsive one submitted for the project.
GCRTA’s engineering staff and consultants estimated the project’s construction would cost $7.7 million. That amount didn’t include project design and engineering services by Michael Baker International, Inc. with an office in Downtown Cleveland.
However, work was delayed twice, first by Norfolk Southern Railroad (NS) whose tracks parallel those of GCRTA’s over West 117th. NS was to conduct its own bridge repairs in 2023 before GCRTA could start its work. NS didn’t start until 2024, resulting in project delays, according to a change order approved by GCRTA’s board in March 2024.
“The unexpected and unforeseeable delays require the Authority (GCRTA) to increase the cost of the contract with Suburban Maintenance & Construction, Inc., under Project 62A – Rehabilitation of Track/Platform Bridges over W. 117th Street,” the board resolution noted.
An excavator is used as a crane to lower into place new Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) platform surfaces for the West 117th-Madison station. The new platforms do not rust like steel from anti-icing salt or break apart like concrete from freeze-thaw cycles (GCRTA).
The new total contract amount of $8.35 million with Suburban Maintenance & Construction was approved by the board and the construction project went forward.
But in January of this year, the project was halted “due to an unforeseen site condition finding lead-based paint on the tops of the steel track bridge members discovered once the existing bridge decks were removed. Work stoppage was required to remove the hazardous paint from the project site,” according to a Jan. 2 memo to the board by GCRTA General Manager and CEO India Birdson-Terry.
The project contract was revised again, to $8.8 million. For months, GCRTA said the West 117th-Madison station was closed “until further notice” and then changed that this past winter to say the station could be closed until November of this year.
Of the 18 stations served by the Red Line, the West 117th-Madison has consistently been one of its highest-ridership stations, ranking anywhere from third to fifth. Unlike other stations that depended on park-n-rides and downtown commuting, West 117th-Madison retained much of its ridership in the post-pandemic era of remote-work
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