n UC-NRLF Y-JZ ^C C 2 511 fl51 'd^L-J- < 2 519821 9127 C6 A25 Ad»*fA5 esign Liby. AN JRY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/clevelandthorofaOOclevrich From the personal library of L. DEMI NG TILT ON The Cleveland Thorofare Plan .-•itt.ii> AILftl m 5 # City of Cleveland City Plan Commission 1921 City of Cleveland W. S. FITZGERALD, Mayor CITY PLAN COMMISSION O. P. Van Sweringen, Chairman Wm. G. Mather Morris A. Black, Vice Chairman F. F. Prentiss H. M. Farnsworth EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Wm. B. Woods, Director of Law Alex Bernstein, Director of Public Service Dudley S. Blossom, Director of Public Welfare Anton B. Sprosty, Director of Public Safety Clarence Metcalf, Director of Finance Thomas S. Farrell, Director of Public Utilities F. W. Thomas, Director of Parks & Public Property Richard Harburger, Executive Secretary CONSULTANTS Robert H. Whitten, Special City Plan Advisor Frank R. Walker, General City Plan Advisor Robert Hoffman, Commissioner of Engineering STAFF C. E. Conley, Engineer Harry B. Brainerd, Architect A. H. C. Shaw, Engineer Wm. A. Strong, Landscape Architect W. P. Wood, Draftsman ' 2-1 THE CLEVELAND THOROFARE PLAN The thorofare plan herewith submitted has been prepared by the advisors of the Commission, Robert H. Whitten and Frank R. Walker, tentatively approved by the Commission and is now presented to the public for its study and criticism. The plan is intended to constitute a fairly complete system of traffic arteries for the area within the present limits of the City of Cleveland. The term thorofare as here used includes all streets that form the main framework of the general street plan. The thorofares collect the traffic of the local streets and carry it to all parts of the city. Local streets that are used chiefly for immediate access to the resi- dences or industries of a small area are not included in the plan. Only about one- When is it Cheapest to Widen the Street? 1 When like this? or this? or this ? -J V 9 The country road can be widened at the time the ad- jacent land 15 cut up into buildinq lots almost without cost. ■ (Q Failinq this a buildinq line may be established that will se- cure its eventual widemnq when the residences are replaced by stores. When larqely built up with expensive commercial buildinqs widemnq often be- comes prohibitively expen- sive. quarter of the 970 miles of streets in Cleveland are included in the present thoro- fare plan. A careful study has been made of each thorofare with reference to its ade- quacy to handle present and probable future traffic and its relation to the complete thorofare plan. As a result specific recommendations and plans have been prepared showing where widenings should be made, where corners should be cut back, where over or under crossings should be constructed, and where extensions should be cut through. The changes proposed by the plan are not new or original. They are for the most part changes that in the past seemed obvious and logical to the various indi- viduals, civic associations and public officials who have from time to time considered these matters. Now, however, for the first time, they are sifted, assorted and brought together as parts of a complete and carefully co-ordinated plan. Presented in this way the' importance of each to the general system is at once apparent. The plan submitted is by no means ideal. The area included is already largely built up and it seemed altogether impractical to proceed except with constant regard to the expense involved and the danger of creating burdens in excess of the eco- nomic benefits and .in excess of the ability of the city to finance. The plan, how- ever, will provide with reasonable adequacy for traffic needs for a considerable period of years. As compared with most other big cities, Cleveland's position as regards traffic conditions will be relatively advantageous. The plan, while far from ideal, constitutes a great improvement and its substantial achievement is well worth striving for. v Street Widening The plan provides for the widening of 98 thorofares having a length in the por- tions proposed to be widened of about 190 miles. Existing thorofares have to a very large extent been opened and improved without regard to a general plan. This accounts for the frequent jogs in alignment, the lack of adequate connections and above all the entirely inadequate widths that are so general over the major portion of the City. Important traffic routes have Comparative Traffic Efficiency of 66 foot and 66 foot street i I i i i 66 :', I, ■ l> II ■ i ll ■> M H -56 - 66 The 86 foot thorofare takes but 30% more land than the 66 foot thorofare yet it is 4 times as efficient. It will pass twice the traffic at 2 or 3 times the average speed . been opened and improved apparently as purely local residence streets. Old coun- try roads have been built up at their original widths of 66, 60, 50 or even 40 feet. Double track car lines have been placed in SO foot streets with no provision for the widening of the streets. A large proportion of the street railway trackage is located on streets and road- ways of inadequate width. In order to provide reasonable freedom and speed both for street cars and for other traffic a roadway wide enough for one line of moving vehicles on either side of the car tracks in addition to space for vehicles standing at the curbs is absolutely essential. For this purpose a roadway width of 56 feet is needed. This with a sidewalk width of 15 feet gives a total street width of 86 feet. The plan submitted proposes the eventual widening to a minimum width of 86 feet of most of the important thorofares and of practically all of the thorofares on which street railways now are or may be located. All such thorofares should be widened so as to provide for two lines of moving vehicles in each direction. Unless this is done, with the increase in traffic and the increase in the number of standing vehicles, the speed of all vehicles will be reduced to the speed of the slow- est. Automobiles and street cars will be compelled to trail behind the slow moving horse drawn vehicles. A thorofare of that kind is very unsatisfactory for passenger automobiles, for street cars and for motor trucks. The normal development for a car line street is retail business. Lorain Avenue is perhaps typical of the traffic and the kind of business development that will come to most of these thorofares. With business comes the increase in the number of vehicles standing at the curbs that makes it essential to have a clear central road- way width for two lines of moving vehicles in each direction. Unless this is done the speed of the street cars will be reduced to the speed of the slowest trucks, and automobiles will be compelled to trail behind the cars. Nothing could be more inimical to the future prosperity of the city than to permit these main arteries of traffic to be solidly built up at their present inadequate widths. The relation between traffic congestion and street car operation is well set forth in a report to the Council by Street Railway Commissioner Fielder Sanders, January 25th, 1917: "It can easily be seen without argument that the down town streets are saturated with traf- fic — street cars and vehicles. The street car traffic has been so delayed by this great excess in vehicle traffic that in order to prevent tie-ups and gaps on the lines it has been necessary to in- crease the running time on several of the lines so that the cars may remain properly spaced. "This is very expensive for the car riders. The public service commission of Massachusetts stated this obvious truth in the following language : 'Economy demands the largest possible car mileage in proportion to car hours and this makes the speed at which cars are operated very important. This fact is generally recognized by street railway managers at the present time and upon well operated roads every effort is made to increase the average speed. The better the speed, also as a rule, the greater the traffic.' "It has been one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Cleveland Railway Company that it has operated its cars very fast. It has the highest schedule of surface railroads in the country and this in large measure has not only made service attractive but has made also three cent fare possible. It is this speed and cheapness of operation also which has so far made five cent rapid transit tube operation financially impossible in Cleveland. This speed is now breaking down on account of being interferred with by traffic, the system is slowing up, but only to some slight degree, however, away from the congested districts." It is only by giving attention to the widening of many thorofares that the pres- ent high car speed outside of the center of congestion near the public square can be long maintained. Unless this is done street cars on many important arteries will 5 be compelled to crawl along behind slow moving trucks. It will be impossible to keep the trucks off the tracks, because with the increase in the number of standing- vehicles at the curb there will be no space in these narrow roadways other than the Profit and Loss in Street Widening Shortening a lot 10 feet reduces value as follows : Widening the street 10 feet on each side : Street 66 feet wide w///////y///M//MW//W/sv/////////. 200' Lot 0.6% VbO' Lot 1.7% Lot 3.% 100" Lot 4A% Street 66 feet wide Increases Value of all lots frbm , )6%toEOO% The average owner can give the land required for street widening and reap 10 fold to 100 fold profits on his investment. tracks in which the trucks can move. This will mean increased cost of street rail- way operation and increased fares and loss of time to the car riders. It will also mean continual interruption to automobile traffic and increased trucking costs. On many of the thorofares that are listed for eventual widening the buildings are at present set back from the street line. There is no urgent need for their im- mediate widening. The important thing is to insure that future buildings, stores or apartments shall be kept back from the present street line a sufficient distance to allow for a future widening. The widenings proposed would in many cases injure the use of the houses for residence purposes by cutting off the front lawns and bringing the houses too close to the street. The use of many of these streets will, however, gradually change from private dwellings to apartments or business build- ings. When this time comes the street can be physically widened without injury to such apartment or business use. In the meantime, the fixing of a permanent building line back of the present street line will serve to protect the existing dwell- ings from serious depreciation owing to the possible erection of an apartment house on the present narrow street line and projecting out beyond the present dwellings. And when traffic has so increased that the street must be widened, it is more than likely that the street will no longer be desirable for private residence purposes and the private dwellings will have been replaced by apartments or by business build- ings. Provision for future widening through the establishment of a set back line can therefore be made while the future traffic thorofare is still a residence street, with advantage to all owners, and when the time comes to actually widen the street to meet traffic needs this too will usually be to the advantage of the owners. By thus imposing the set back line and then widening the street at the very time that these things can be done with advantage both to the owners a/id the City, the widened thorofare can be secured at a minimum expense. Many of the thorofares listed for widening are already in the transition stage. The former residences are being gradually replaced by apartments and stores. Most of the stores and some of the apartments are being placed out beyond the resi- dences on the street line. Now is the time to stop this development before the ex- ceptional example becomes the rule. Many of the structures already built out to the line are temporary wood buildings or taxpayers. In time they will be replaced and then if in the meantime other buildings have been kept back on the established line the street can be widened with comparatively slight expense. Street Extensions Thirty-seven street extensions are proposed, having an aggregate length of 23 miles. The street extensions will necessarily be more expensive than the widenings. Recommended extensions are therefore carefully limited to the connections deemed necessary to secure a fairly complete thorofare layout. In no section of the present city should thorofares be more than a half mile apart. Owing to existing building development, this minimum standard has not been attained in a few sections of the city. Wherever possible without too great cost existing streets have been connected by short extensions so as to form through routes. Many of these ex- tensions if not provided for now will be cut through in later years at enormously increased expense. Central Thorofares The central section of the city lying between Fulton Road on the west and E. 105th Street on the east and lying north of the valleys of Walworth Run. the Cuya- hoga River and Kingsbury Run will embrace the principal business and community center of the Cleveland metropolitan area. The topography of the city is such that the bulk of the traffic to, from and through this business and community center must pass in a generally east and west direction. This section will therefore re- quire all the increased east and west traffic capacity that it is now practical to secure. In all large cities the demand is for more routes leading into and through the central business district. In Cleveland, the traffic difficulties are in large measure due to the reliance on a few main thorofares converging at or near the public square. The remedy lies in the provision of more thorofares of adequate width coming from the outskirts of the city into and through the central business section and out to the city boundaries on the opposite side. The central business section of the city should have an approximately rectangular layout, each street constituting the cen- tral portion of a main radial thorofare. The street widenings and extensions proposed in this central section of the city will take care of the estimated increase in traffic for a period of thirty to fifty years. TENTATIVE THORDFARE PLAN CITY OF CLEVELAND DRAFT OF DELC.I7.HZ0 SCALE. ONE MILE CITY PLAN COMMISSION ROBERT H.WHITTEN K R. WALKER C'TY Plan ADVI5CP3 C. E. CON LEY • KEY- EXISTING THOROFARES PROPOSED WIDEN1NGS PROPOSED EXTENSIONS UNDETERMINED AREAS Central Bridges Locations for the construction of future bridges across Cuyahoga Valley are recommended as follows : (1) Old Superior Viaduct to be connected with St. Clair Avenue at West 9th Street. (2) Proposed Huron-Lorain Bridge to be constructed with a connection to Eagle Avenue at Ontario Street to meet the proposed westerly extension of Carnegie Avenue. (3) Additional high level bridge from Huron Road and Ontario Street to Franklin Avenue to connect a great through route made up of Euclid Avenue and Huron Road on the Efest Side and of Franklin Avenue and Madison Avenue on the West Side. (4) A high level bridge from East 30th Street and Pittsburg Avenue to Jefferson Avenue and West 5th Street. This will provide an East-Side- West-Side belt line route. The construction of all of these bridges will be required to meet traffic demands within thirty to fifty years. Standard Thorofare Widths The Following standard thorofare widths and cross sections are recommended: Street Roadway Sidewalk Class A thorofare 66 40-42 13-12 Class B thorofare 86 55-56 15.5-15 Class C thorofare 100 60 20 Class D thorofare 120 76-80 22-20 Class E thorofare 140 and over The 66-foot thorofare is undesirable unless traffic is light, unless the number of vehicles standing at the curl) is negligible, unless there are no street car tracks, and unless the traffic using the thorofare is predominately either of the fast or the slow type. It will seldom be wise to apply the 66-foot standard in laying out a city thorofare in as yet undeveloped territory. It is, however, a standard that it will frequently be expedient to apply in replanning the thorofare system of a built up area. In the plan submitted the 66-foot standard is applied to a considerable number of narrow thorofares where the existing development seemed to make it inadvisable to attempt to secure a more adequate width. The 86-foot thorofare with a 56-foot roadway provides for two lines of mov- ing vehicles in each direction in addition to space for vehicles standing at the curbs. In the plan submitted the 86-foot standard is applied to most of the routes recom- mended for widening or extension. It is the minimum width that seems at all ade- quate for any but minor thorofares. It should at least be a minimum for all main thorofares and for most street car routes and for all routes crossing the entire length or breadth of the future central business district. It is recommended that the traffic ordinance be amended to require a special license for any vehicle in excess of 7.5 feet in width. Over and Under Crossings Various methods of separating grades at street intersections have been de- vised and a number have been actually applied. Where applied, however, it has usually been to meet exceptional demands of topography or traffic and not to solve the problem of a typical busy intersection. A separation of grades is comparatively simple if provided for at the time the streets are laid out and the grades established. In the case of the typical busy intersection a complete separation of grades is not practicable. The intersecting routes cannot be completely separated as in the case of a steam railroad and a highway. Freedom of interchange of traffic between the two intersecting streets must be retained. The most that can be done is to carry the through traffic of one of the streets over or under the intersection. The intersection itself will still be complicated by the interchange traffic of both streets and by the pedestrian traffic of both streets. 10 In the extension of Carnegie Avenue it is recommended that an over-crossing be constructed to carry Carnegie Avenue through traffic over East 105th Street. Over-crossings are also recommended for eventual construction in Superior Avenue both at the East 30th Street and at the East 55th Street transfer points. The width of Superior Avenue (132 feet) and the comparatively undeveloped condition of the street frontage affected greatly simplifies the construction of over-crossings in these locations. Standard Widths for thorofares CLASS A ; «-n-7-+ - i8'-io- -*- -it-T--jj- i jf- as 1 * K--I2--*- 4. 2 - »--IZ--» k. sc y CLASS B if-is-6-;- t r -55' ».— lB-6--jl Ofe . CLASSC CITY OF CLEVELAND CITY PLAN COMMISSION Robert H. Whitten F.R.Walker. CITY PLAN ADVISORS 11 Speedways In city railway trarrsporation the elevated road and subway have not super- seded the street surface railway but have merely supplemented it. The evolution of vehicular traffic may be somewhat similar. As traffic is slowed down and the aver- age length of haul increases the problem of providing a number of high speed routes to carry traffic through the more congested areas Will become very urgent. Unless such routes are planned long in advance of their actual need, they will be almost prohibitively expensive when at length they are imperatively required. Cleveland's When is it Cheapest to Extend the Street? ■When like this? or this? or this? >K~T T ' t. "-hJ* I ■A I J [-J J X r & - ia tip ?8 2£l -39 4fi JJ.JJJJJ.JJJ I «t ' j\ j j j u ^ J J J ,*l ^ W d d W «J 5y control of plattinq the thorofare can be ex- tended free of cost When lots are sold and dwellmqs erected the cost becomes burdensome When smaii dwellmqs are replaced by hiqh apartments the cost becomes almost prohibitive topography is favorable to the development of a number of speedways radiating from the heart of the city. The River Valley and its branching ravines furnish possible locations for such routes. The Lake Front also may be used for this purpose. These possibilities should be further studied in connection with plans for terminal and rapid transit development and in connection with plans for Lake Front im- provement. A plan is submitted for the construction of a three mile speedway in the par- tially undeveloped area immediately north of Euclid Avenue between East 21st Street and East Boulevard. The Traffic Problem Street traffic is increasing much more rapidly than population. If the growth of street traffic merely kept pace with the growth of population the problem of making adequate provision for the future would be sufficiently difficult. It is prob- 12 13 able, however, that the street burden will under normal conditions increase twice as fast as population, i. e., while population is doubling the street traffic will be trebled. The traffic problem is chiefly one of average speed and not of the number of vehicles it is physically possible to move through the streets. Even with all the interruption due to cross traffic there is abundant street capacity in so far as num- ber of vehicles that it is possible to pass through the streets during any 2 or 12 hour period is concerned. All the traffic offering can doubtless be taken care of — tis'-V -4-— 18'- io"- ■ so' ■ I. Present 80' Width- E.^ to E.107st. Present e>3' Width - Public Square to L\ bb sr. ^::::::;. :.'.'.::■:.£} BB& < l y;:wm.'/,"'/nm. Proposed 120' Width- l-^st to University Circle. Section or 120' Width Showing Arcade - SCALE • O IO to »o M VJ Present &>. Proposed Width of Euclid Avenue. • CITY OF CLEVELAND CITY PLAN COMMISSION • ItOIMT M WHITTCH W. R WALKtB CITV PLAN ADVISODS the only question is with what delay and with what average speed. If an average speed of 2 to 6 miles an hour will suffice, there is no traffic problem now and possibly never will be. If on the other hand an average speed of 10 to 20 miles is demanded, the traffic problem is extremely urgent and difficult. Extreme congestion means not only that street car service is disrupted but that all trucking and commercial traffic is slowed down. The cost of trucking is a much larger factor in the cost of most goods than is railroad freight. Many products are transferred by vehicle through city streets a half dozen times before they reach the consumer. If through street congestion, as is undoubtedly true in parts of Chicago, New York and London, the time and cost of trucking goods is doubled, the toll due to congestion is certainly enormous. It is paid in part by the public in higher prices. It also places a serious handicap on the commerce and industry of the city. Method of Carrying Out the Plan The plan here proposed is not suggested for immediate application and con- struction in its entirety. The plan is intended rather as a twenty year improve- ment program. Most of the street extensions proposed should be made soon as 14 there is no other way of preventing their being blocked by the erection of expen- sive buildings. The widenings, however, can for the mos't part be made gradually as and when new buildings are constructed or existing buildings are reconstructed. In this way the widened thorofare can eventually be secured (probably by the time it is imperatively needed) and the value of the existing buildings will be saved. It is proposed that the plan shall be submitted to the city council for approval as the official thorofare plan of the city. The cost of carrying out the plan is dependent on various factors not clearly ascertainable at the present time. The cost, however, will in all probability, be not less than $20,000,000, not including the cost of the proposed bridges across the Cuya- hoga Valley. A financial program authorizing the expenditure of from one to two millions annually should be adopted in order that the most urgent features of the plan may be carried out and the erection of any buildings that would seriously in- terfere with the eventual carrying out of the plan prevented. The Cost of Delay Chicago is now spending more than $80,000,000 in the widening, extension and improvement of a few main thorofares. Most of this expense would have been saved if Chicago had, when it was the size that Cleveland now is, prepared and consist- ently adhered to a thorofare plan. Cleveland in a few years will be compelled to expend similar amounts for improvements that can now be provided for at com- paratively trifling cost. There is nothing quite so permanent and difficult to change materially as a city's streets after they have once been solidly built up with business buildings or apartment houses. Buildings have come and gone but the streets of central Boston and lower Manhattan retain most of their original crooks and turns. On many of the streets included in the proposed thorofare plan for eventual widening, the build- ings are for the most part set back from the street line. Now is the time to provide either for the immediate widening of these thorofares or for their eventual widen- ing as and when new buildings are constructed or the present residences are re- placed by stores and apartment houses. Cleveland is building up and spreading out so rapidly that every year's delay in the adoption and enforcement of a thorofare plan will mean an enormous loss to the future city both in money outlay and in commercial and industrial efficiency. 15 c CD CD s— CD * O i- 0) -♦-» 1 v s (1) Q. i_ — O o O " l_ l: -c 3 CL a) ■+■» -i-> c „, c ■ s m «J *a O £ 5 'o =s - 1 - V rinq ding idth - ■= $ 0) a 3 *- O •o -4-> HI (D a> Q> C ■o l_ o o •♦-• o 3 •»- CO m a> 0i ill o 1- c O ' -•-> 11 a> -Q o fO L_ c «J ID T> i_ •-•- _J 0) E o o o l_ o -£= — «3 o -•-• 2