Fast-Developing West Side Cleveland Neighborhoods Grapple With Traffic

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is conducting a study in a growing west side Cleveland neighborhood aimed at making the community safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. The project is prompting a heated debate on social media.

Detroit–Shoreway resident Ariel Karas witnessed several accidents when she used to live on Franklin Boulevard.

“Franklin Boulevard is prone to high speeds and there have been a lot of traffic issues and incidences,” she said.

At issue is the two-mile stretch of Franklin that runs from Ohio City through Detroit-Shoreway. As new development caused congestion along the nearby busy thoroughfare of Detroit Avenue, traffic has increased along the more residential Franklin.

Last fall, NOACA launched the Franklin Boulevard Traffic Calming Study, suggesting options like reduced speeds and building barriers that divert traffic to other streets. 

The issue prompted an impassioned Facebook dispute. Some suggest that the biking community is trying to impose its will on the rest of the neighborhood. Others complain that the experimental traffic diverters installed by the city were awkwardly executed. Katherine Trueblood argues that they aren’t necessary and are distracting from the real problem.

“Nearly everyone in the neighborhood agrees that traffic behavior on Franklin is an issue,” she said. “I and many others want to be certain that whatever measures are ultimately put into place actually address the issue by altering driver behavior and not merely shifting the issue to less vocal or well-represented side streets in the neighborhood.”

Another opponent of the diverters is Justin Hayman, but he doesn’t think there’s a major problem to begin with.

“I’ve never had a bad experience on Franklin, to be honest,” he said. “Anytime I travel Franklin --- and I’m an attorney and travel down Franklin pretty regularly to meet with clients --- is usually that I can’t go faster than 30 mph because someone’s in front of me. So, it’s contentious, to say the least.” 

In the meantime, NOACA is still soliciting feedback and looking to complete the study by the end of this summer.