Cleveland RTA Officials Break Ground on New Campus Station at East 34th Street
Community leaders and officials of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) broke ground on a new station they plan to build on the site of the current station at 2820 East 34th St.
It is called the Campus Station, because it is near the Tri-C Metro Campus. The station serves the Red Line, Green Line and Blue Line, as well as bus routes 15, 19 and 76.
The total project budget is $7.5 million, with $6.0 million going to construction by the Panzica Construction Co. of Mayfield Village. Federal funds will cover about 80 percent of the construction cost.
When completed in late 2018, the Campus Station will be ADA-compliant. It is expected to be a major boost to the Campus District and the Opportunity Corridor. Instead of escalators and elevators, it will use an extended ramp design.
May 31 opening ceremony
Speakers included:
- Georgine Welo, Mayor of South Euclid and an RTA Board Member. Master of Ceremonies
- Phyllis Cleveland, Cleveland City Council, Ward 5
- State Representative Bill Patmon, District 10
- Bobbi Reichtell, Executive Director, The Campus District
- Joe Calabrese, RTA General Manager & CEO
Project background
On July 20, 1930, the station opened to light-rail train service (now known as the Blue/Green lines). Heavy-rail Red Line service was added in 1971.
The May 31 ceremony comes after several years of planning.
In November 2014, RTA began to gather community input on the future of the East 34th Street Station and two stations on East 79th Street. All have low ridership.
In 2015, RTA completed a Transit Service Alternative Analysis, to assess options to best serve this area. The conclusion and Board direction was to move ahead with station design, while working with the city of Cleveland and local development agencies to increase density and transit-oriented development (TOD) around the station. This would help ensure that investment in a new station would yield positive results.
In August 2015, the RTA Board awarded a design contract to WSP (formerly known as Parsons Brinckerhoff) in an amount not to exceed $624,662. The proposed station design was presented to the Board on April 5, 2016, and was finalized in January 2017.
In April 2017, the RTA Board awarded the construction contracts. 12 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) will share 15 percent of the work, or $902,259.
After construction starts, the station will be closed to Red Line riders. Persons who need to use the Station can ride Blue Line / Green Line trains from stations at Tower City or East 55th Street.
