CLEVELAND — A 30-million-dollar project is getting rolling in the city of Cleveland. It’s called Cleveland Midway Lorain Avenue.
If approved, Lorain Avene from West 65th Street to West 20th Street would get a major overhaul.
Thursday night was the public’s first chance to see the plans. The project would allow space for walkers and joggers, a protective bike lane, and parking on just one side of the street. Parking is a problem for some small business owners.
“We don’t have enough parking now and you’re telling us you’re going to take more of it away. But, I think we’ve been very solution oriented and we can have both. We can have the bike lane and the parking spaces,” said Jonah Oryszak, Heart of Gold Restaurant Owner.
Jenna Thomas with Bike Cleveland said for bike riders, Lorain Avenue is very dangerous.
“Lorain is one of our most dangerous corridors in the city. It’s on our, what we call our high injury network which means the majority of our serious and fatal injuries happen on Lorain,” said Thomas.
“Lorain Avenue is a pretty dangerous street,” said Krissy Wells. In 2022, we reported a hit-skip driver injured her husband while he was riding his bike. “He’s doing well but he still has a lot of pain from it,” she said. Wells is also a small business owner.
“We want to involve the public in this design process and take all the feedback that we get, see what we can do to cater to everyone,” said Dave Bass, Major Transportation Projects Coordinator City of Cleveland. Bass said there will be more opportunities for public opinion.
