Downtown Cleveland’s First Protected Bike Lanes

The City of Cleveland recently announced an upcoming reconfiguration of two downtown streets – Huron and Prospect – into one way pairs. This is the first project as part of the City’s new mobility plan Cleveland Moves.

This configuration has been utilized temporarily for years during special events downtown, but this project will make it permanent. Along with this permanent one-way reconfiguration comes something even greater – downtown Cleveland’s first protected bike lanes.

Now – to be fair – the rendering above shows a fully realized project, complete with widened concrete sidewalks and island. This could be the look at a future point. But this will be the City’s first “quick-build” project, one that will be installed this month, using lower-cost treatments to reallocate roadway space and create physical barriers between people and motor vehicles. This is a big deal. Rather than wait years for a project to become reality – Clevelanders (and visitors) will be benefitting from this before the end of June.

This type of “quick build” project is coming at an important time. Our recent Crash Report shows that serious and fatal crashes in the City are on the rise. Cleveland has committed to Vision Zero – a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2032. But this year’s numbers – up from 550 people struck in 2023 – show the city is not on track to meet that goal. In fact, the steady toll of crashes highlights the urgent need for investment in street design that protects all road users. Fatal crashes in the city are also on the rise, with 75 people killed in crashes in 2024 – a significant jump from 59 in 2023 and 43 in 2022. Among those killed last year, 15 were people walking or biking, a sharp increase from 9 in 2023 and 10 in 2022.

Making these changes will also bring street parking that can remain during events, dedicated loading zones for merchants and contractors, as well as increased space for expanded patios, seating, and other amenities. Plus, crossing distances for pedestrians will shorten considerably.

Protected bikeways in Downtown Cleveland are long-overdue. Larger, full-scale projects like the Superior Midway are still at least 2 years from completion. Quick-build projects like this present a cost-effective way to make strides towards the City’s goal of 50 miles of new and updated bike network improvements in the next 3 years – and bring the rising number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries down for all roadway users.