Euclid Corridor Transportation Project
Cleveland and East Cleveland, OH

Stephen Malloy, ASLA
Senior Landscape Architect, URS/BRW
700 Third Street South
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Tel. 612-373-6313;
Fax 612-370-1378
steve_malloy@urscorp.com

Project Scope and Objectives

The Euclid Corridor Transportation Project is a proposed public streets cape improvement project involving the planning and design of a seven-mile Bus Rapid Transit (BRl) way along Euclid Avenue in the cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland, Ohio

• Design a transit system to operate within an existing automobile corridor, providing station platforms and related elements.
• Provide development guidelines for the areas affected by the introduction of the transit line, emphasizing compact, mixed uses that support and complement the pedestrian and transit modes of travel.
• Enhance streets cape and public space, providing street trees and other plantings, paving, benches, lighting, public art, and associated urban furnishings.

The project team's efforts were guided throughout the planning and design process by three main precepts:

• First, that safe, efficient pedestrian and transit travel can be linked in a common, mutually supportive landscape.
• Second, that a transit-supportive environment is necessary to the success of the transit operation; and that this can be achieved through close analysis of existing neighborhood context and the application of pedestrian-oriented urban design principles.
• Third, that the introduction of the transit line should enhance the visual and social environments of Euclid Avenue, while preserving and strengthening the character of the neighborhoods along the corridor.

The team focused on creating an environment for pedestrians that provides easy access to the transit line, preserving and reinforcing pedestrian connections to the existing neighborhood, and encouraging compact, mixed use development within walking distance. This effort included station design, traffic calming on Euclid Avenue, and improved lighting and wayfinding systems. Enhancing neighborhood or 'district' identity was approached through a combination of planning recommendations and district-specific planting schemes, while maintaining a readily identifiable system for the transit operations.

Streetscape and platform details were crafted to work with the station design, while reflecting the corridor's contemporary environment as well as its history.

The Role of the Landscape Architects

Landscape architects took a lead role in this highly visible public project, directing the efforts of a multi-disciplinary team of traffic and civil engineers, bus transit operations experts, architects and planners; and participated equally in all phases of the project, including:

• Development of project scope and program elements
• Client interaction and public meetings
• Layout and design of the program elements, with the exception of certain bus facilities and equipment
• Preparation of planning, urban design, landscape design, and detail documents The client also participated in public meetings and coordinated public agency reviews.

Project Significance

This project represents an effort to integrate all aspects of urban landscape architecture to revitalize an important American street. Transforming a major historic corridor from primarily automobile use to integrated, multi-modal use involved devising innovative approaches to transit operations, and called for linking these operations to an enhanced pedestrian realm. Landscape elements were the primary means of restoring amenities to the street, using the re-introduction of American Elms on a large scale, and specifying new planting technologies to improve tree health and longevity. Site-specific streets cape elements were designed to reflect the corridor's past and to complement transit infrastructure. Development guidelines for the surrounding neighborhoods, informed by the planning legacies of early landscape architects, support the transit corridor with pedestrian-oriented housing and businesses. Through their project leadership, the landscape architects were able to ensure that the highest standards of urban landscape planning informed all aspects of the project.