still this looks great.

This is great. A long term resident of Lakewood...I still DO NOT want medians put on Clifton. I know it would look beautiful...but whenever I go east, I always take Clifton or Lake. It shows off our fabulous, eclectic, well-kept homes. It is also an efficient, timely road to drive on. A great alternative route for when the I90 has issues. I do not like the current craze of cutting down the lanes on the roads to slow down traffic. I do not think there is a huge problem with the traffic to warrant this.

I believe we should keep Clifton an open, free-flowing thoroughfare that encourages traffic to use it an increase the flow of possible consumers in and out of Lakewood. What they did to Lake Road east of 117th is awful. It used to be another efficient alternate route to the east...but no more.

Just in my opinion. I love Lakewood!!!

HI - any improvement is a good idea, but lets also get a bit real here. As someone who has experienced years of public transit in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Minneapolis, the RTA Service in Cleveland is expensive, usually late, and mostly crowded. Since the 55 doesn't run that frequent - mostly once an hour - and never on weekends why the investment in a GPS arrival monitor? In SF where different bus lines use the same roads and run every 15 minutes or so, it makes sense to see if your bus route is going to be on time or not. Since there is only ONE bus line that uses Clifton, this expensive makes no sense at all, as the 55 is either going to be on time or not. The rider has no other option to use, unless you walk up to Detroit and take the 26 - which is ALWAYS an experience (not usually a good one!)
How about eliminating the GPS which is just plain silly for monitoring ONE BUS ROUTE that only operates 5 days a week and use that money to CLEAN the RTA buses. I have seen several riders sit on newsprint rather than sit directly on the filthy seats on the 26 and 55 bus lines. I mean, these seats are FILTHY!!! The bus floor is FILTHY!! and how about getting buses where the windows can open too.
Again, compared to other cities, the RTA is probably doing its best with its budget, but PLEEASE, Clean your buses before investing in GPS systems that really won't help the 55 route rider all that much.

Also forgot to ask Mr. Calabrese when was the last time you took the trip on a weekend from Lakewood to downtown Cleveland? Also, when did the Mayor last take this trip? Since there is no 55 service on the weekend, the 26 bus is over-crowded (why the decision to use only a single bus instead of the double buses you use during the week Mr. Calabrese?), slooooow, and usually in need of a good cleaning. AND, what will be the schedule for cleaning and maintaining these new Clifton bus shelters? Again, I use the 55 on almost a daily weekday basis, and the current bus shelter leave a lot to be desired. I would NEVER sit on the bench in my suit or overcoat - just plain dirty most of the time. There are cobwebs inside a lot of these shelters, along with empty coffee cups, pieces of Scene newspaper all over, and garbage cans often located too near the shelters that SMELL really bad.
Soooo, what are the plans for keeping these new shelters clean? where will the new garbage cans be located so those of us waiting in inclement weather inside the dirty shelters won't have to smell rotten food, etc. I am again all for improvements, but the basics such as cleanliness, and on time service I think most riders would give RTA a failing grade.

As a monthly pass holder and one who rides many of RTA's lines throughout the week, I think the best "Enhancement" RTA could make to the Clifton corridor is to increase the frequency of the 55 schedules and use their articulated buses - especially when CSU is in session - and restore much needed weekend service on that route. The 26 on Detroit is always a nightmare and almost never on schedule. Those who fashion those schedules from their computers in their offices never seem to have any real time experience riding the bus, especially on the very local routes to and from the city and its inner ring suburbs. That should be a requirement which should be instituted for ALL RTA personnel AND the RTA Board of Directors AND upper level management (including Mr. Calabrese)
As the 26 is the only east - west option in Lakewood on weekends, they should at the VERY least use the higher capacity 'articulated " buses on that route on the weekends as well.
Recently returned to the area after 15 years and experiencing many other public transit systems, (Boston, Providence, Montreal among others) I am horrified at the disintegration of the once efficient and safe RTA under its current management. why not divert the monies to improving their sorely broken service and their, as now is apparent, woefully inadequate on-board security systems.?

Mr. Calabrese and the RTA Board have a LOT of sins to answer for!

Ian the idea is to increase demand on Clifton and with it RTA will restore frequency. Did you attend the meeting?

Hi Brian - thanks for your comment, but I don't really understand it regarding increasing bus ridership on Clifton. Adding glorified bus shelters will not increase ridership, though they may make waiting for a bus a little less miserable in bad weather. To increase demand, what RTA needs to do is to guarantee a consistently reliable on-time service, one that operates SEVEN DAYS a week, one that is clean and customer friendly, and dare I say, one that is AFFORDABLE! (RTA charge of $ 5.00 for a round trip - with no transfer included - is not at all affordable compared to similar city's fares and use of transfers. Check out San Francisco's MUNI bus transfer, where you pay one way and also get a transfer good for anywhere from 1.5 to 2 plus hours. This is far cheaper than here and has been very successful in increasing ridership.) It seems to be that RTA's strategy to increase ridership is self-defeating. RTA eliminates the Lakewood Shuttle which was cost-effective and had many riders, and then eliminated weekend 55 service - while charging a very expensive roundtrip of $ 5.00 and offering 55 service about once an hour, monday -friday. I don't think many folks would see this strategy as encouraging more ridership. Just the opposite, as it makes travel more inconvenient. And sugar coating a bus stop with fancy bus shelters does not encourage ridership nor business growth, especially if there is no service when a lot of people shop, Saturday-Sunday.

RTA wants to increase ridership? Comical. Everything they have done over the last 5-10-15 years has decreased ridership. Once upon a time you could set your watch by the 55, now, well you can forget about it. How many different buses need to service the Gold Coast on a weekday? Eliminate one if those and shift the resources to Clifton, restore weekend service. It is outrageous that seniors, families and workers who rely on public transportation have to walk so far on the weekend. Does everyone remember the crushing blow to seniors and families when they killed the circulatiors? Want to increase ridership RTA? Bring back good, reliable, frequent bus service on the weekdays, on Saturday and yes, Sunday. It's not about the style of the shelter, it's about service. You can keep your bricks and mortar.

Hi Karolyn,
Totally agree. In fact, everyone I talk to about these so called "improvements" on Clifton find it comical and so not in touch with the reality of their lives riding public transit in Lakewood. Why is our Mayor Summers not advocating for the return of the circular shuttle service - especially since the former Mayor Fitzgerald promised us he would fight to return these cost effective, well used and business enhancing mode of public transit? He even suggested Lakewood would fund one of these shuttles? AND return them at convenient hours and do some publicity about it - not the lame response a few years ago when they returned the shuttle on a very limited basis that ensured its failure. Everyone I know complains about having to carry groceries/shopping carts, etc. from Detroit to Clifton/Edgewater/Lake on weekends, since the 26 is the ONLY Route that is of service on the weekend in Lakewood in this area. Mayor Summers, not everyone can afford to own a car. And why is Lakewood City Hall promoting biking and installing new bike racks in town, but not advocating for restoration of decent/accessible public transit on Sat/Sun?
Or the return of a community based shuttle service? Why not return that on Sat/Sun if RTA refuses to reinstate 55 service on weekends? At least we would have something in Lakewood that is accessible on Sat/Sun? AND when did eliminating public transit act as an incentive to Lakewood's business growth?