Blue, Green, and Waterfront Lines (Cleveland)

Waterfront Line

The first 2.2 miles (3.5 km) of both lines is designated the Waterfront Line as it travels near the shoreline of Lake Erie and the east bank of the Cuyahoga River. The northernmost terminus is South Harbor located adjacent to the Municipal Parking lot. The lines extend generally west-southwest directly adjacent to the former Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway and New York Central Railroad tracks now used by Norfolk Southern and Amtrak, with stations at East 9th Street (North Coast station adjacent to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and West 3rd Street (adjacent to FirstEnergy Stadium). Between these stations, trains will stop at Cleveland's Amtrak station upon request.

The line then contains a large loop allowing it to turn from west-southwest to south-southeast, cross over the CSX tracks and travel along the east bank of The Flats. There are two stations in The Flats, Flats East Bank and Settlers Landing. In The Flats are three grade crossings, the only ones west of Shaker Square.

The line then turns east and climbs up from The Flats in two cuts on either side of the Red Line. It merges onto the Red Line tracks and travels through Tower City station. The Blue and Green Lines use the eastern end of the Tower City station where two low-level island platforms are provided. Tower City marks the end of the portion designated as the Waterfront Line.

From April 2010 through May 2013, RTA completely eliminated weekday regularly scheduled Waterfront Line service due to low ridership and trains ran on the line only on weekends and for special events. Though seven-day-a-week service on the line was restored, a number of trains continue to use Tower City as a western terminus.

Tower City is the major station on all RTA Rapid Transit lines. It is the main station serving downtown Cleveland and it provides a convenient transfer point between the Red Line and the Blue and Green Lines.

Interurban portion

From Tower City to just east of East 55th Street, the Blue and Green Lines share track with the Red Line for 2.6 miles (4.2 km) along a private right-of-way originally acquired in 1930 to bring intercity trains into Cleveland Union Terminal (the site of today's Tower City Center). The East 34th–Campus station and the East 55th station are shared by the heavy rail rapid transit Red Line and the light rail Blue and Green Lines on the same platform, an arrangement unique in North American rail transit. The shared stations have low platforms for the Blue and Green Lines directly adjacent to high platforms for the Red Line. RTA Central Rail yards and headquarters are located at the East 55th station, where trains of all rail lines are stored and serviced.

East of East 55th, the Blue and Green Lines split from the Red Line and travel east on a separate, dedicated, grade separated right-of way. A complex of tunnels existed at this junction to provide means for the Blue and Green Line trains to switch from right to left side running from East 55th to Tower City, but right side running is now used throughout the system, and the tunnels have been closed.

The private right of way extends from this junction to Woodhill Road at the western end of Shaker Boulevard and then below grade through an excavated cut in the median of Shaker Boulevard to Shaker Square. Along this portion of the lines are East 79th station, Woodhill station and East 116th Station. The lines then rise to street level at Shaker Square.

Suburban portion

Intersection of Shaker Blvd. and Van Aken Blvd. in Cleveland

From Shaker Square eastward, both lines enter Shaker Heights and operate at street level with grade crossings, reflecting this portion of the lines' history as streetcar lines. The Blue and Green Lines separate from each other just east of Shaker Square at 41°29′02″N 81°35′20″W / 41.483798°N 81.588824°W / 41.483798; -81.588824, with the Blue Line extending southeast in the median of Van Aken Boulevard and the Green Line continuing east in the median of Shaker Boulevard. The station-stops east of Shaker Square on both lines are adjacent to street intersections and most comprise merely concrete platforms with simple shelters. Both lines have grade crossings in this area, except for the Blue Line at Lee Road where the line descends into an excavated cut and under a bridge carrying Lee Road over the tracks and the Green Line from Warrensville Road eastward. The central median of Shaker Boulevard expands at Warrensville Road—it was originally planned for a high-speed parkway—and the Green Line continues along this median with Warrensville Road crossing on a bridge overhead. There is also a bridge at Green Road, although the station is actually just west of the bridge and only layover tracks extend beneath the bridge.

The Blue Line terminates at Warrensville Road and Van Aken Boulevard, and the Green Line terminates at Green Road and Shaker Boulevard.

Future extensions

Plans have been drawn up to loop the Waterfront Line back through downtown to Tower City along city streets, but it seems unlikely to move forward in the near future. With the completion of the HealthLine project, a new heavy rail line has been proposed that will connect Rocky River and Euclid. There has also been a proposal to extend the Waterfront line, from the current South Harbor (municipal parking lot at East 14th Street) eastward along the lakefront, to the Glenville or Collinwood neighborhoods or to Euclid or beyond. This eastward expansion is still a part of the Cleveland Planning Commission's Lakefront Development proposal.

An additional station on the Waterfront Line section that loops over the NS tracks, is a part of nearly every plan for that area. Initially the Cleveland World Trade Center would have had the station in the lobby of the facility, then the Eaton Corp headquarters, but neither project was built. Currently the announced Lakefront Redevelopment plan has the proposed station as an integral part.^[6]

Designations

Originally, The Blue and Green lines held the designations of 67 and 67A. These were later changed to and from 67X and 67AX. This remained with the opening of the Waterfront "line" extension of the Blue and Green lines. In the mid 2010s, the Waterfront line became a separate designation from the 67 and 67A Blue and Green lines. The Waterfront line was briefly designated as 67W, before the three routes united under the 67 designation, which is now internal and not shown on official timetables.

Cleveland & Youngstown Railroad

A rapid car between Public Square and East 55th station in 1927.

A PCC streetcar at Shaker Square in 1968.

Map of the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit from early 1975.

East 9th–North Coast station turnstiles in 2017.

The Van Sweringen brothers purchased the land of what is now Shaker Heights in 1906 intending to create a planned suburban community. They knew that the success of their plans depended upon the availability of streetcar service to downtown Cleveland, so they persuaded the Cleveland Railway to extend its Euclid Heights trolley line along Fairmount Boulevard from Cedar Road to Lee Road, which was completed by 1907.

To improve travel times to downtown, the Vans organized the Cleveland and Youngstown Railroad. On October 27, 1911, with a population of only 200, the Village of Shaker Heights was incorporated, and two years later on December 17, 1913 the first section of the C&Y opened, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) from Coventry Road east down the median of the future Shaker Boulevard (then part of Coventry Road) to Fontenay Road (west of Eaton Road). The line connected to downtown Cleveland via a line along Coventry Road, north to the 1907 Shaker Heights streetcar line on Fairmount Boulevard in Cleveland Heights. On May 20, 1915 the eastern terminus of the C&Y was extended from Fontenay Road to Courtland Boulevard.

As construction progressed in Shaker Heights, the Van Sweringens realized that the connection to Cleveland Railway's streetcar system through Cleveland Heights resulted in a slow trip to downtown. They planned for a grade-separated right-of-way all the way to downtown that could significantly reduce travel times for commuters, and thus increase the desirability of their suburb. In 1915 they acquired a majority interest in the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (the Nickel Plate Road), mainly to allow for a line next to a relocated NYC&StL.

Cleveland Interurban Railroad

The Van Sweringens rapid line officially opened in April 1920, running west from Coventry Road down the median of the new Shaker Boulevard to Woodhill Road, then across the Cleveland Short Line Railway (New York Central Railroad) and alongside a CSL branch to East 55th Street. West of East 55th Street, where the CSL branch crossed over the parallel Nickel Plate, the new streetcar line also crossed the Nickel Plate, continuing west between the branch and Nickel Plate, then up a ramp to the intersection of the Kingsbury Viaduct (East 34th Street) and Broadway. From there, the CIRR cars traveled along the tracks of Cleveland Railway's Broadway line, using street-running for the remainder of the trip downtown.

Also in April 1920 a branch line was opened to the south and east of what was Moreland Circle (today, Shaker Square). This line split from the other line at Shaker Square and ran southeast down the median of Moreland (later renamed Van Aken) Boulevard to Lynnfield Road. In 1928, the Shaker Boulevard line was extended east from Courtland Boulevard to Warrensville Center Road.

As the Van Sweringens' railroad plans grew, they constructed a new Union Terminal for Cleveland. Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT) opened in 1930, along with a new grade-separated right-of-way with side-by-side lines for steam railroads and interurban streetcars, including the CIRR. Although their plans for another interurban line never materialized (the right-of-way was later used for the Red Line), the CIRR immediately began operations via the new right-of-way into the north part of CUT specially reserved for interurban train service. The CIRR no longer needed to run on city streetcar tracks and the ramp to Broadway and East 34th Street was removed. The first CIRR trains rolled into CUT on July 20. On the same day, the Moreland or Van Aken line was extended to its present terminus at Warrensville Road. A further extension of the Shaker Boulevard line moved the eastern terminus to Green Road in 1936.^[7]

Shaker Heights Rapid Transit

On September 6, 1944, the City of Shaker Heights took over the financially struggling lines and began operating them as Shaker Heights Rapid Transit. The city lacked funds for major line extensions. However, it did modernize the fleet with the purchase of PCC cars beginning in 1947.

In 1955 the Cleveland Transit System (which was formed in 1942 when the City of Cleveland took over the Cleveland Railway Company) opened the first section of the city's new rapid transit line, now known as the Red Line. It used much of the right-of-way and some of the catenary poles from the Van Sweringen's planned east-west interurban line adjacent to the NYC&StL tracks. The first section of the CTS rapid transit east from Cleveland Union Terminal included 2.6 miles (4.2 km) and two stations shared with the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit line, necessitating split platforms with low-level sections (for Shaker Heights rapid transit cars) and high-level sections (for CTS rapid transit cars).

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

By the 1970s the City of Shaker Heights was struggling to maintain the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit and in Cleveland, CTS was facing financial problems with its rapid transit and bus system. Significant federal money was available, but only if a regional transit system was formed. In 1974, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (or RTA) was organized to take over the municipal transit system in Cleveland and others throughout Cuyahoga County. Voters approved a county-wide sales tax increase to help subsidize the transit system and RTA officially took over the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit lines on July 14, 1975. In September 1979, RTA adopted a new designation for the rapid transit lines. The old CTS Rapid Transit became the Red Line and the Shaker Rapid Transit lines became the Green and Blue Lines.

In 1980, RTA undertook a complete renovation of the Green and Blue Lines, with new track, ballast, poles and overhead wiring. Existing stations were demolished and new stations constructed. The project necessitated closing the Green Line east of Shaker Square for most of the summer of 1980 and the Blue Line east of Shaker Square for most of the summer of 1981, with substitute bus shuttles and single-tracking along the remainder of the line from East 55th Street to Shaker Square. To run on the renovated lines, a fleet of new LRVs were purchased from an Italian firm, Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie, to replace the aging PCC cars. The new lines were dedicated on October 30, 1981.

In 1996, the Blue and Green Lines were extended for the first time in 60 years as the lines were extended through downtown into a new section, called the Waterfront Line, connecting Tower City to the North Coast Harbor area. The Waterfront Line opened on July 10, 1996.

Notes

• Demery, Jr., Leroy W. (October 18, 2005). "U.S. Urban Rail Transit Lines Opened From 1980" (PDF). publictransit.us. pp. 11–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007.
• Bell, Jon. "Cleveland, Ohio: Shaker Heights Rapid Transit".
• "nycsubway.org - Cleveland, Ohio".
• Titchenal, Stephen (2003). "Historic Transportation Maps". Rails and Trails.com: Transportation History Sources.
• Van Tassel, David D.; Grabowski, John J., eds. (1996). "Shaker Heights Rapid Transit". The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (2nd ed.). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-33056-4. Retrieved May 1, 2007.