Cleveland closes street to traffic to test Open Streets program

Where cars would normally speed down West 29th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, Houston Burrow was enjoying his coffee and reading in a chair set up on the street.

The Edgewater neighborhood resident is a regular customer of Rising Star Coffee Roasters down the street, and was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of running out with his coffee, he could sit and enjoy it outside.

“I’ve been coming here for about three or four years, but yeah, having more places to sit is definitely nice to be able to stretch out and enjoy the sun while we have it,” said Burrow, who works at NASA’s Glenn Research Center.

The portion of the street between Clinton and Church avenues will be temporarily closed for two weeks to test Cleveland’s Open Streets program, which aims to promote community engagement and health by prioritizing spaces for pedestrians.

“I’m hearing a lot of positive feedback. I like it,” said Adriana Marcano, a barista at Rising Star Coffee Roasters down the street. “I think it’s really important that we prioritize pedestrians over cars.”

On the other hand, he is concerned about changes in the neighborhood, including less on-street parking and new paid parking zones, as the city works to implement mobile and “smart” parking measures in neighborhoods across the city.

“I think the green space would be a great addition, but I think they need to take into account workers and residents when it comes to parking,” Marcano said. “But I’m always in favor of pedestrians over cars.”

The city had already tested the idea on nearby Market Avenue, which is now permanently closed to traffic. Joyce Pan Huang, director of city planning, also points to downtown’s East Fourth Street, which offers a variety of dining and entertainment options, as another success story.

“What we’ve learned from both Market Ave. and East Fourth Street is that having areas with a lot of commercial or retail activity around them really helps amplify the vibrancy of an open street,” Huang said. “This open street is a little bit different because it’s right in the middle of a residential area that connects to a commercial area, so there are more residents running into each other and you have the opportunity to be a little bit more flexible with the space.”

Cleveland’s District 3, which includes downtown and Ohio City, had a median household income of nearly $50,000 in 2022 — nearly $20,000 more than the rest of the city. Huang said the city is currently exploring what open streets might look like in other neighborhoods, but told Ideastream Public Media they’re not ready to share those locations or details yet.

“This is a really crucial way to slow down traffic and create more places of community resilience,” she said. “For example, in some of the lower-income neighborhoods, where there are fewer and fewer opportunities for chance encounters to happen, we’ve seen a lot more vacant housing, a lot more demolitions… Going back to the idea that we want to connect and care for each other and make these places into desirable neighborhoods… We’re going to make it unique to that location.”

West 29th Street will be closed until September 8.