A series of public meetings is planned for January on Cleveland’s multimillion dollar federal Railroad Crossing Elimination Project, which involves the construction of an east-west connector bridge over Third Street and the elimination of a low railroad overpass crossing that has been the site of thousands of truck collisions over the decades.
The two crossings at Inman Street and Third Street, respectively, bracket the Five Points area on Inman Street and the old train depot buildings along Edwards Street, forming part of a planned east-west corridor linking nearby communities to the downtown area, plans show.
Mayor Kevin Brooks and City Manager Joe Fivas said the bridge project is in its earliest steps, and the public’s participation will help in weighing options on the best path forward as the planning phase of the project gets underway. The project recently got an injection of $27.5 million to fund project development, final design, land acquisition and construction. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the funding in June, and the city is to provide a 20% match for the project, according to federal officials.