FRIDAY DECEMBER 13, 2013 at 10:00 AM NOACA Offices 1299

DECEMBER MEETING OF THE NOACA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

WILL BE HELD ON: FRIDAY DECEMBER 13, 2013 AT 10:00 A.M.

NOACA Offices 1299 Superior Avenue Cleveland, OH 44114

***NOTE: This meeting is scheduled to last until Noon. ***

Please RSVP by calling (216) 241-2414, Ext. 0 or via email: [email protected]

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For Your Advance Information, the Next Meeting of the NOACA Board Will Be Held On:

Friday, January 10, 2014 – 10:00 a.m. NOACA Offices 1299 Superior Avenue Cleveland, OH 44115

Please check our website (www.noaca.org) for the agency’s Mission Statement and other information.

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY Friday, December 13, 2013, 10:00 a.m. NOACA Offices 1299 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114

B O A R D A G E N D A Page

1. Minutes of November 8, 2013 Board Meeting 1-1

2. Committee Updates: 2-1 a. Executive Committee b. Other Committee and Council Summaries (In Package)

3. Public Comments on Current Agenda Items Oral

4. Financial Report 4-1

5. President’s/Executive Director’s Report Oral

6. Resolutions/Action Items: 2013-037 Geauga County – County Engineer Board Membership for December 2013 6-1 2013-038 State Fiscal Year 2014 2nd Quarter Project Planning Reviews (PPRs) 6-5 2013-039 Approval of TIP and Plan: 2nd Quarter SFY 2013 6-45 7. Old Business

8. New Business

9. Presentations/Discussion Items: a. Future Action i. Board Member Orientation and Regional Strategic Plan – Visioning Statement Results and Discussion 9-1 b. Information i. Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) Update 9-7

10. Reports/Updates: a. Government, Regulation, and Policy i. Legislative Liaison Report 10-1 b. Other i. NOACA-Attributable Funded Project Monitoring Report 10-7 ii. Monthly News Digest 10-11 11. Adjourn

Next Regular Meeting: Friday, January 10, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. NOACA Offices, 1299 Superior Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio

Agenda Item No. 1

BOARD MINUTES

Minutes of the NOACA Governing Board Friday, November 8, 2013 NOACA Offices 1299 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio

Present: See the attached attendance record.

President Valarie McCall convened the meeting at 10:08 a.m., a quorum having been established. She noted that public notice of the meeting and its agenda were issued.

Approval of the October 18, 2013 Meeting Minutes

Commissioner Mary Samide moved to approve the minutes of the October 18, 2013 meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Joe Calabrese. The minutes were approved by voice vote.

Committee Reports

President McCall announced that the Committee Updates Report was included in the mailout.

Public Comment

President McCall announced that no one signed up for public comment.

Financial Report

There were no questions regarding the Financial Report.

President’s/Executive Director’s Report

President McCall updated the Board on the following:

• Agenda items for the Board and Governance Committee were discussed by the Executive Committee.

• A meeting of the Executive Committee along with the chairs of the Standing Committees is being considered for December.

• The membership for the subcommittees will be finalized.

• A suggested meeting schedule was distributed.

1 - 1 Ms. Grace Gallucci updated the Board on the following:

• Positive articles were written about NOACA in Fresh Water Cleveland and Streetsblog.

• The accomplishments in FY 2013 Overall Work Program (OWP) will be presented to the Board.

• The third floor construction project is 75% complete.

• The first phase of the Innerbelt Bridge project (westbound) has been completed. The bridge will be named after former U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich.

• The State of Ohio will invest $120 million to repair 220 county and city-owned bridges.

• The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will be coordinating an Ohio Statewide Transit Needs Study to look at strategies and examine demographics and travel trends to determine what type of travel services are going to be required in the future.

• Mr. Joe Calabrese was named to ODOT’s steering committee for the Ohio Statewide Transit Needs Study.

• NOACA will be soliciting projects for the New Freedom Program in mid-November. There is currently $615,000 available.

• The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the availability of $29 million in competitive research funds for innovative public transportation projects.

• Ms. Amy Wainright is no longer employed at NOACA and Ms. Nancy Griffith is serving as the interim general counsel. Ms. Gallucci expressed well wishes for Amy’s future endeavors.

Resolutions/Action Items

2013-032: Seating of the Standing Committees Ms. Gallucci reminded members that the Board approved the Code of Regulations update on August 9. As part of the update, the new committee structure was created and membership must be approved by the Board. She noted that the membership list was included in the Board packet.

Ms. Kathleen Scheutzow asked if Board members are replaced in January as a result of the November elections, would their replacements fill the same positions on the committees. Ms. Gallucci noted that for the standing committee seats the Code of Regulations does not identify a specific position. As a result, the person is appointed rather than their position. Ms. Gallucci proposed that the Governance Committee may want to consider how new appointments would occur so that each one does not have to come back to the Board for a vote.

President McCall stated the Governance Committee will meet after the Board meeting to discuss the Code of Regulations. She informed the Board only three of the five counties ratified Articles IV and IX of the Code of Regulations.

1 - 2 President McCall announced Commissioner Ted Kalo, the chair of the Governance Committee, was unable to chair the first meeting due to a personal matter.

President McCall stated the membership of the subcommittees hasn’t been reviewed yet, but she doesn’t believe there will be many changes due to the technical expertise of current members.

Mayor John Hunter made a motion to adopt Resolution 2013-032. Mr. Chris Easton seconded the motion. Resolution 2013-032 was adopted by voice vote.

Mr. Calabrese asked if the placement of GCRTA and Laketran on the Board under their respective counties complies with the requirements of MAP-21 for transit agency representation on the Board. Ms. Gallucci said yes and noted the issue has been discussed with the FTA and the Department of Transportation (DOT).

2013-033: Congestion and Mitigation Air Quality Program (CMAQ) President McCall reminded members that Mr. Greg Murphy from ODOT attended the Board meeting in October and addressed some of NOACA’s concerns.

Mr. Randy Lane reported to members that a resolution was requested by the Board in October. Mr. Lane stated that in November 2012, ODOT directed the Ohio Association of Regional Councils (OARC) to create a new CMAQ program. A subcommittee was established by OARC consisting of representatives from the eight largest MPOs in Ohio. This subcommittee was directed to draft a new policy that manages the statewide CMAQ program. The objective of the proposed policy was to reduce unused fund balances and advance projects that have statewide benefits. On August 28, 2013 the proposed policy was approved by OARC, despite objections by NOACA and AMATS.

Mr. Lane mentioned NOACA has received approximately 26% of the total CMAQ funds annually based on population in nonattainment areas. He informed members that projects scheduled beyond FY 2017, totaling $34.4 million, would not be grandfathered into the CMAQ program. Project sponsors would need to resubmit their applications through NOACA to the statewide program for funding consideration. Mr. Lane discussed the disadvantages of the new policy as well as the impact it would have on the NOACA region. He also pointed out that OARC is not a legal recognized public entity that is accountable to the public.

Mr. Lane advised that if the resolution passes, NOACA will work with ODOT to develop an alternate solution that focuses on the goals and priorities of the statewide program while maintaining its individual allocation.

Mr. Allen Biehl commented that ODOT will not support the resolution because it is not based on fact. He stated NOACA could benefit from the new program and suggested tabling the resolution and let the process work itself out. If the process isn’t working after a few application cycles, ODOT would be willing to work with the MPOs to tweak the process.

Commissioner Dan Troy asked what regions in Ohio had unspent CMAQ funds. Mr. Lane replied that Ohio MPOs have historically carried forward CMAQ balances for various reasons. However, SFY 2014-2017 TIP projects are projected to have a 0% carry forward. Commissioner Troy expressed his concerns on whether the OARC committee will remain impartial when selecting projects to be funded.

1 - 3 President McCall made the observation that based on the $34.4 million in projects that won’t get funded, the NOACA region loses. She reminded the Board of all the communities that will be impacted by the CMAQ changes.

Commissioner Hambley stated CMAQ funds are currently allocated based on population and air quality attainment criteria. However, with the new process, the allocations will be based on one vote per MPO. He pointed out that the voting process is disproportionate to the population as well as to clean air attainment. Commissioner Hambley expressed his concerns over the lack of public scrutiny in the overall screening process. He stated the new process takes decision making away from local governments.

Ms. Kathleen Scheutzow stated there needs to be a discussion on the criteria for selecting projects. She stated she believes ODOT is looking at projects that will give the state the biggest bang for the buck on cleaning the air. She asked for clarification of whether OARC will be distributing CMAQ funds itself or will it be acting in an advisory capacity to ODOT? If the latter is the case, OARC would be acting as a committee under a state agency that is subject to Sunshine Laws and stated she was unsure if there would be a loss of transparency. Ms. Scheutzow pointed out that although NOACA has historically received 26% of the CMAQ funds that is not a guarantee to receive funds in the future. Ms. Scheutzow stated she was uncomfortable voting for a resolution that would not change ODOT’s decision to implement the new process.

President McCall pointed out that NOACA does not like having resolutions against ODOT and that the purpose of the resolution is to go on record stating its viewpoint on the CMAQ changes.

Ms. Gallucci addressed Ms. Scheutzow’s concerns. She referred to Commissioner Hambley’s comments that the funds were allocated proportionally within the state based on nonattainment area population. She noted that NOACA has the largest nonattainment area, so it would benefit the region to continue receiving its share of the funding.

Mr. Lane made it a point to mention the resolution does not state NOACA is against statewide benefits or a statewide program initiative. The resolution says that the statewide program intent can be achieved through coordination of shared goals, priorities, and performance measures to guide individual MPO programs and minimize the risks to project sponsors.

Ms. Gallucci reminded the Board that ODOT delegated OARC to manage the CMAQ program. Ms. Gallucci provided details on how the OARC committee would select projects and how it developed the new process, expressing concerns regarding the transparency of these efforts to the public.

Ms. Scheutzow stated that if a government entity delegates a committee to make decisions on spending public dollars, the group would probably be subject to Sunshine Laws. She questioned whether the OARC meeting was legal if there was no public notice or public meeting.

Mr. Calabrese stated CMAQ funds are a necessary component to funding the bus replacement programs in Northeast Ohio. He pointed out that the NOACA region provides over 50% of the transit trips in the state. He stated he doesn’t feel confident that transit agencies will be considered for funding in the statewide program. Mr. Ray Jurkowski agreed with Mr. Calabrese and commented that the State of Ohio does not provide matching funds for capital replacement

1 - 4 of vehicles and expressed his doubts that ODOT will balance the needs of transit systems with the needs of highway projects.

Mr. Skip Claypool stated he was concerned about transparency and the spend it or lose it mentality expressed by some Board members. He said he believes mass transit should be handled in a cost effective, efficient manner and that the CMAQ issue provides an opportunity for the Board to raise the level of discussion to ensure the maximum benefit in services to taxpayers.

Mr. Biehl commented that people fear change. He acknowledged the Board had some legitimate concerns and admitted he was unable to answer all of their questions. He suggested they have legal counsel validate their concerns. Mr. Biehl reviewed the scoring criteria and stated he was not convinced the new process is flawed.

Ms. Gallucci acknowledged that the eight MPOs represented on the committee had a good process in place prior to the new one. ODOT took the process from local decision making to statewide decision making. Ms. Gallucci commented that although a criteria-based process should produce the best outcome, there is subjectivity and room for manipulation. She pointed out that NOACA was disproportionately represented on the OARC committee.

Ms. Tanisha Briley stated she supports the resolution because it addresses concrete concerns the Board has with the CMAQ program. She informed Mr. Biehl that $34.4 million in projects is a tangible concern. She requested that ODOT work with NOACA to address the issues stated in the resolution as well as the concerns expressed by Board members.

Ms. Scheutzow asked if the projects scheduled beyond 2017 would definitely not receive funding. Ms. Gallucci responded that the sponsors would have to resubmit their applications to NOACA for approval. Once approved, the projects would be submitted to the statewide program for funding consideration. She noted there is no guarantee the projects would be funded.

Mr. Biehl said ODOT has similar processes in place with the Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) and the County Engineers of Association of Ohio and noted both processes have worked out well. Mr. Biehl tried to assure the Board ODOT would work with the MPOs to improve the process if needed.

Mr. Tom Williams moved to table Resolution 2013-033. He said Mr. Biehl had some valid points and admitted he too has some concerns with the resolution. He stated he travels throughout the state and there are other regions in Ohio that need CMAQ funds. He said he believes the new process will bring economic development to the entire state and that ODOT has the best interest for the State of Ohio.

President McCall requested that a roll call be done to table Resolution 2013-033. The results of the roll call were as follows: 25 no votes, 10 yes votes and 1 abstention. President McCall announced the vote to table Resolution 2013-033 failed.

Commissioner Bob Aufuldish moved to adopt Resolution 2013-033. The motion was seconded by Ms. Judy Moran. Resolution 2013-033 was introduced for voice vote.

1 - 5 President McCall requested that a roll call be done. The results of the roll call were as follows: 26 yes votes, 8 no votes and 2 abstentions. President McCall announced Resolution 2013-033 was adopted.

President McCall informed Mr. Biehl the CMAQ issue was previously discussed with Mr. Pakush and Mr. Greg Murphy from ODOT and she hopes the issue can be resolved.

Resolution 2013-034: Geauga County Facility Planning Area (FPA) Boundary Map Update Mr. Wopershall said that Water Quality staff is in the process of reviewing the FPA boundary areas for accuracy in the NOACA region. He stated the review for Geauga County has been completed. Commissioner Mary Samide asked Mr. Woppershall why South Russell was not shown on the map. Mr. Woppershall stated that South Russell has a service agreement with Geauga County for wastewater treatment and that there are no changes to that area. Mr. Woppershall requested the approval of the resolution so the Water Quality Management Plan can be updated to reflect the changes.

Commissioner Samide made a motion to adopt Resolution 2013-034. The motion was seconded by Mr. Jim Gills. Resolution 2013-034 passed by voice vote.

President McCall advised staff to inform county commissioners when their facility planning area maps will be presented to the Board so they can address any issues or concerns ahead of time.

Resolution 2013-035: Overall Work Program (OWP) Mr. Jonathan Giblin gave a presentation on the OWP completion report. He provided detailed information on the products that were completed as well as products that were not completed. He said 95% of the products were completed and the products that were not completed were due to staff attrition, reassignments, timing issues, and shifting priorities under a new executive director. Mr. Giblin provided an overview of the accomplishments in FY 2013 for the following areas:

• Environmental Planning and Outreach • Demographic Modeling and Forecasting • Multimodal Planning • Asset Management • Transportation Planning • Sustainable Communities Planning • Projects, Programming and Funding • Program Administration • Communications and Public Involvement

Commissioner Aufuldish asked if the reports for individual products are available on NOACA’s website. Ms. Gallucci said yes and added staff would be willing to email him specific reports.

Ms. Scheutzow asked for an explanation on why the Air Quality Programs was under budget and the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) project was over budget.

Ms. Gallucci explained that in 2012, NEOSCC was falling behind schedule and since NOACA is the official grantee and responsible for the outcome of the project, NOACA invested time and labor towards the work of NEOSCC. She mentioned NEOSCC is back on track and is near

1 - 6 completion. Ms. Gallucci stated the reason the Air Quality Programs was under budget is because a full time employee responsible for some of the air quality efforts retired in 2012 and the work was combined with someone else’s duties.

Commissioner Troy made a motion to adopt Resolution 2013-035. The motion was seconded by Mr. Joe Calabrese. Resolution 2013-035 passed by voice vote.

Resolution 2013-036: Third Floor Build-out Unanticipated Cost Increases Ms. Kathy Sarli informed members the project had experienced some unanticipated cost increases totaling $7,317.37. The additional costs were caused by omissions such as door hardware, and building code requirements such as fire damper sleeves. Ms. Gallucci said a contingency was not included in the project budget. President McCall mentioned the resolution was discussed at the Executive Committee meeting. Ms. Sarli stated NOACA staff would have a post construction meeting with the architect to discuss the omissions.

Ms. Scheutzow inquired if NOACA asked the architect if errors and omissions were covered under their insurance.

Ms. Sarli stated the increase cost was considered more of an omission than an error so NOACA would have needed to pay for the extra cost anyway.

Ms. Scheutzow made a motion to adopt Resolution 2013-036. The motion was seconded by Mr. Julian Rogers. Resolution 2013-036 passed by voice vote.

Old Business

There was no old business.

New Business

There was no new business.

Presentations/Discussion Items

a. State Fiscal Year 2014 2nd Quarter Project Planning Reviews (PPRs) – President McCall asked members to review the PPRs in their packets before the next Board meeting.

b. Regional Strategic Plan – Visioning Statement Results and Discussion – The Board agreed to defer the presentation to the meeting in December. c. Legislative Agenda – The Board agreed to defer the discussion of the Legislative Agenda to the External Affairs Committee. d. Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) – the Board agreed to defer the update to a future meeting.

Reports/Updates

President McCall informed members that copies of the committee structure, the Legislative Liaison Report and the NOACA-Attributable Funded Project Monitoring Report were included in their packets for review.

1 - 7

Mr. Calabrese announced President McCall was elected to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) committee.

Next Meeting

President McCall announced the next Board of Directors meeting would be held on Friday, December 13, 2013, 10:00 a.m. at NOACA offices. She noted that the meeting will last until noon or longer. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Valarie J. McCall, President Brenda Walker, NOACA Recorder

1 - 8 NOACA BOARD ATTENDANCE RECORD - 2013

MEETING DATES 1/11 2/08 3/08 4/12 5/10 6/14 7/12 8/09 9/13 10/11 11/08 12/13

OFFICERS: AUFULDISH, Robert X X X X X A X X X X CIACCIA, Julius X A A X X X X X X HAMBLEY, Stephen X X X X X A X X X X X HUNTER, John X X X X X X X X X X X JERSE, Ed X X X X X X X X X KALO, Ted X X X X X X X X X X MCCALL, Valarie J. X X X X X X X X X X X SAMIDE, Mary X X X X X X X X X A X SCHEUTZOW, Kathleen X X X X X X X X X X X TROY, Daniel X X A X X X X X X A X CUYAHOGA COUNTY: BLOMQUIST, Robert X X X X X X X X BRILEY, Tanisha (appoint. 8/9/13) X A X X CERVENIK, William A A A X A COLEMAN, Scott A A A A A A A A A DEGEETER, Timothy X X A X A X X A X X X FITZGERALD, Ed A A A A A A A A A GERMANA, Charles (alt. 1/23/13) X INFELD, Susan X X X X X X X X X X X NIERMANN O’NEIL, Susanna X X X A PROCUK, Michael X X X X X X X A X X ROGERS, Julian (appoint. 1/23/13) X X A X X X X X SPREMULLI, Leonard X X X STEFANIK, Robert X A A X A X A X X A X SUMMERS, Michael X A X A X X X X X A SUTHERLAND, Deborah X X X X X X A TEEUWEN, Bonnie A X X X A X CITY OF CLEVELAND: BRANCATELLI, Anthony X X A X X A A A X X A BROWN, Robert X X A X X X X A X A X KEANE, Martin A X A X X A X X X X MITCHELL, Mamie A X X X X X X WASIK, Jomarie X X X X X X X X X A GEAUGA COUNTY: JEMISON, Tracy A A A A A A A SPIDALIERI, Ralph A A A A X A A A A A LAKE COUNTY: GILLS, James X X X A X A X JURKOWSKI, Ray (appoint. 2/5/13) X X X X X X X X MORAN, Judy X X A A A A X X X X TYLER, Mark (repl. by Jurkowski) A LORAIN COUNTY: BRINDA, Holly X A A A A X X A A A A CARNEY, Kenneth X A X A A A A A X A X HEIDECKER, Dick X X X X X X X X RITENAUER, Chase X A X A A X X A WILLIAMS, Tom X X X X X X X A MEDINA COUNTY: X EASTON, Christopher (apt. 1/22/13) X X X X A X X X X LUKAS, James (alt. 1/22/13) SALAY, Michael X X A X X X X X X X X ODOT: PAKUSH, Myron S. X X A X X X X X X A A GCRTA: DIXON, George A A CALABRESE, Joseph (appt. 3/8/13) A X X X X A X X X Cleveland/Cuyahoga Port Authority FRIEDMAN, William A X A A A A TOTAL MEMBERS ATTEND: 40 38 35 38 37 33 37 35 36 40 39 X=Member present A=Alternate Present 2013b 1 - 9 1 - 10 Agenda Item No. 2

COMMITTEE UPDATES

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: NOACA Board of Directors

FROM: Grace Gallucci, Executive Director

DATE: December 6, 2013

RE: Committee Updates

Executive Committee The Executive Committee, chaired by President Valarie McCall, met on November 8, 2013. Commissioner Steve Hambley moved to approve the minutes of the October 11, 2013 meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Nate Kelly. Other members were not present for the meeting; therefore the minutes were not introduced for voice vote. The committee discussed the following resolutions that were presented at the November Board meeting:

• Resolution 2013-032 – Seating of Standing Committees • Resolution 2013-033 – Statewide Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) • Resolution 2013-034 – Geauga County Facility Planning Area Boundary Map Update • Resolution 2013-035 – Overall Work Program (OWP) Completion Report • Resolution 2013-036 – Third Floor Build-out Unanticipated Cost Increases

Under new business, the committee discussed allowing the Geauga County engineer to serve as a member on the Board until the new Geauga County commissioner selects an alternate.

The Executive Committee meets next on December 13, 2013 at 9:00 am.

Governance Committee Meeting The Governance Committee discussed approaches to completing Code of Regulation updates related to the following:

• Language in the bylaws • Ratification process • Membership requirements • Issues concerning Geauga and Medina Counties

2 - 1 The Governance Committee also discussed Geauga County’s request to allow a county engineer to serve on the Board in place of a commissioner until the end of the year.

The Governance Committee meets next on Thursday, December 12th at 2:30 pm.

Transportation Subcommittee (TS) The TS meeting, chaired by alternate chairman, Mr. Michael Schipper, met on November 15, 2013. Under action items:

• Comments on the second quarter Project Planning Reviews (PPRs) were discussed. • TS gave its support for the PPRs, which will be presented to the Board for approval. • TS gave its support for the SFY 2014-2017 Plan and TIP amendments, which will be presented to the Board for approval.

Under information items, the TS discussed suspending the quarterly application cycle for NOACA’s attributable funds. The TS also discussed the upcoming funding round for New Freedom Program funds.

The TS meets next on December 20, 2013.

Transit Council

Transit Council, chaired by Mike Salamone, met on November 15, 2013.

• Ms. Valarie Shea, from GCRTA, provided an update to the council about the transit on- board & travel demand modeling projects: On-Board Survey: Data collection is complete. There are 19,000 records collected for all the systems. The final data set will be completed by Thanksgiving. The data visualization tool (an online tool to analyze the survey data) should be available very soon for use by all agencies. A final report is due by the end of the year. • Ms. Shea also provided an update on the GCRTA Redline/Health Line study. The Redline/Health Line study will be looking at the Eastern service area from Windermere to the county line. They will be studying various alternatives from rail to express bus. The next round of public meetings will be in early December. • Update on the next New Freedom funding: Staff updated the council on the status of the final round of New Freedom program funding. Staff expects to announce the final round of funding in mid-late November. • Staff updated the council on the status of the Ohio Statewide Transit Needs study. ODOT is conducting a study to assess the needs of the state’s transit systems. Currently, the consultant hired (Nelson/Nygaard) has been in the process of interviewing all of the transit agencies and will soon release a transit rider survey to the general public. • Staff updated the council on a meeting about the state’s rural to urban policy. Staff and Mr. Salamone attended a meeting with other transit agencies at ODOT’s central office to discuss hardships of the lost of rural funding from the state and the impact of Map-21 changes. • Staff updated the council on the status of the Sustainable Transportation Awards. Staff refined the scope and survey for the award. The council was asked to review and comment by next meeting. Going forward, planning staff will be working with the external

2 - 2 relations department on creating a marketing plan for the award. The timeline remains unchanged. • Staff presented the 1st draft of an overall NEO Transit map. The map shows all of the transit systems of northeast Ohio and where they intersect. The council was asked to review and get back to staff with any comments. • Staff asked members of the council to submit a list of their upcoming FY2015 planning initiatives so that NOACA can include them in the Overall Work Program.

The Transit Council meets next on December 20, 2013 at 9:00 am.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Council (BPAC) The BPAC did not meet in the past month.

The next meeting date for the BPAC has not been set.

Water Quality Subcommittee (WQS) The Water Quality Subcommittee did not meet in the past month.

The WQS meets next on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 at 1:30 pm.

Air Quality Subcommittee (AQS)

The AQS, chaired by Commissioner Robert Aufuldish, met on November 20, 2013. The minutes of the August 21, 2013, meeting was approved.

The AQS was informed of changes made to the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) program. NOACA will no longer have an individual annual allocation of CMAQ dollars as the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is directing the large MPOs to create a statewide program. Projects with planned commitments of CMAQ funds scheduled beyond SFY 2017 will have to compete for dollars in the statewide program. A resolution was approved by the Board of Directors in November requesting that ODOT reconsider changes made to the CMAQ program.

The AQS was informed of NOACA’s new standing committee structure.

The AQS will meet next in February 2014.

2 - 3

2 - 4

Agenda Item No. 3

PUBLIC COMMENTS ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS

Agenda Item No. 4

FINANCIAL REPORT

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

FISCAL YEAR 2014 - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

C FISCAL EXPENDED TARGET PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE 2014 THROUGH BUDGET BUDGET OF TARGET OF TARGET (42%) BUDGET 11/30/13 REMAINING (YTD) (YTD) (ANNUAL) SALARIES & FRINGES (A) (B) (A-B) (A/12)*5 mo. (B/C) (B/A)

SALARIES $ 3,484,343 $ 1,271,382 $ 2,212,961 $ 1,451,810 88% 36% FRINGE BENEFITS 1,069,807 358,427 711,380 445,753 80% 34%

$ 4,554,150 $ 1,629,809 $ 2,924,341 $ 1,897,563 86% 36% OCCUPANCY & EQUIPMENT

LEASE - OFFICE $ 285,176 $ 120,156 $ 165,020 $ 118,823 101% 42% UTILITIES 44,000 14,861 29,139 18,333 81% 34% TELEPHONE 16,500 5,780 10,720 6,875 84% 35% BUILDING MAINTENANCE 43,000 13,309 29,691 17,917 74% 31% PARKING 3,300 210 3,090 1,375 15% 6% EQUIPMENT LEASING 2,750 668 2,082 1,146 58% 24% EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE 74,427 26,547 47,880 31,011 86% 36% FURNITURE/EQUIPMENT 96,000 22,325 73,675 40,000 56% 23% * 3RD FLOOR BUILD-OUT 226,900 134,100 92,800 94,542 142% 59% HARDWARE/SOFTWARE 62,504 21,383 41,121 26,043 82% 34%

$ 854,557 $ 359,339 $ 495,218 $ 356,065 101% 42%

CONSULTING SERVICES

LEGISLATIVE LIAISON $ 55,000 $ 15,400 $ 39,600 $ 22,917 67% 28% PRIVATE CONSULTANTS 1,569,600 370,142 1,199,458 654,000 57% 24% TLCI - COMMUNITY SHARE 200,000 48,925 151,075 83,333 59% 24% AGENCY AUDIT 17,000 0 17,000 7,083 0% 0%

$ 1,841,600 $ 434,467 $ 1,407,133 $ 767,333 57% 24% OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES

* NARC/MEMBERSHIP DUES $ 17,000 $ 17,000 $ 0 $ 7,083 240% 100% SUPPLIES 25,600 9,140 16,460 10,667 86% 36% POSTAGE 5,000 400 4,600 2,083 19% 8% ADVERTISING/RECRUIT/MEETINGS/LEGAL 62,750 21,165 41,585 26,146 81% 34% OUTSIDE REPRODUCTION 6,000 785 5,215 2,500 31% 13% MEETING EXPENSE 36,000 8,479 27,521 15,000 57% 24% TRAINING 43,000 4,092 38,908 17,917 23% 10% TRAVEL 46,300 5,498 40,802 19,292 28% 12% * INSURANCE 22,500 21,191 1,309 9,375 226% 94% PUBLICATIONS 1,800 685 1,115 750 91% 38% ACCOUNTING SERVICES 1,250 586 664 521 113% 47% OTHER MISCELLANEOUS 1,500 161 1,339 625 26% 11%

$ 268,700 $ 89,182 $ 179,518 $ 111,958 80% 33%

TOTAL $ 7,519,007 $ 2,512,797 $ 5,006,210 $ 3,132,920 80% 33% **

* These line items will be within budget as the fiscal year progresses toward June 30, 2014. 4 - 1 ** The Agency has expended approximately thirty-three percent of the fiscal year 2014 budget. NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

CASH POSITION AS OF NOVEMBER 30, 2013

DESCRIPTION RECEIPTS DISBURSEMENTS BALANCE

BEGINNING BALANCE $ 116,828.09

JARC/NEW FREEDOM 10,520.00 BRUNSWICK 0.00 ANNUAL MEETING 0.00 NOACA DUES 6,848.00 ODOT/FHWA 354,584.61 ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS 0.00 HUD/NEOSCC 2,601.92 MISCELLANEOUS 1,750.00 INTEREST ON ACCOUNTS 0.00 MATURED GE COMM PAPER 0.00 TRANSFER FROM TRISTATE - MMDA 0.00 TRANSFER FROM CHARTER - HUD 0.00 TRANSFER FROM CHARTER MRA 400,000.00 VENDORS $ 303,865.00 PAYROLL 268,584.76 TRANSFER TO TRISTATE CAPITAL - MMDA 0.00 TRANSFER TO CHARTER ONE MRA 0.00 PURCHASE HUNTINGTON CDARS 0.00 HUD FUNDS TO NEOSCC 0.00 ENDING BALANCE $ 320,682.86

TOTAL $ 776,304.53 $ 572,449.76

ADDITIONAL CASH BALANCES:

INVESTMENTS: Return

STAR OHIO 137.06 0.050% CHARTER ONE BANK MRA 172,715.66 0.000% * HUNTINGTON BUILDING RESERVE 2,581.68 0.000% TRISTATE CAPITAL MMDA 249,095.92 0.300% * MORGAN STANLEY - SMITH BARNEY FFCB (2-21-14) 335,194.30 0.300% HUNTINGTON CDARS (04-17-14) 200,000.00 0.350% TRISTATE CAPITAL CDARS (06-14-14) 253,637.67 0.750% HUNTINGTON CDARS (06-19-14) 251,598.49 0.350% TRISTATE CAPITAL CDARS (08-30-14) 210,769.40 0.400% TRISTATE CAPITAL CDARS (09-04-14) 206,659.28 0.400%

TOTAL $ 1,882,389.46

GRAND TOTAL 2,203,072.32

Interest Earned in FY 2014 = $2,418.95

* Funds reserved for capital lease agreement with the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.

4 - 2 FY 2014 NOACA DUES RECEIVED/RECEIVABLE NOVEMBER 2013 Total Total CUYAHOGA COUNTY Dues Received Receivable GEAUGA COUNTY Dues Received Receivable

Cuyahoga County $165,637 $0 $165,637 Geauga County Commissioners $15,886 $15,886 $0 City of Bay Village 2,025 2,025 0 Geauga County Engineers 9,532 9,532 0 City of Beachwood 1,547 1,547 0 Geauga County Sanitary Eng 6,355 6,355 0 City of Bedford 1,692 1,692 0 City of Bedford Heights 1,391 1,391 0 Total Geauga County $31,773 $31,773 $0 Bentleyville Village 112 112 0 City of Berea 2,470 2,470 0 Bratenahl Village 155 155 0 LAKE COUNTY City of Brecksville 1,767 1,767 0 Lake County Commissioners $78,268 $78,268 $0 City of Broadview Heights 2,510 2,510 0 City of Brooklyn 1,445 1,445 0 Brooklyn Heights Village 200 200 0 LORAIN COUNTY City of Brook Park 2,486 0 2,486 Lorain County Commissioners $41,624 $0 $41,624 Chagrin Falls Township 16 16 0 Lorain County Engineers 13,720 13,720 0 Chagrin Falls Village 532 532 0 City of Amherst 664 664 0 City of Cleveland 51,345 0 51,345 Amherst Township 111 111 0 City of Cleveland Heights 5,968 5,968 0 City of Avon 2,409 2,409 0 Cuyahoga Heights Village 83 83 0 City of Avon Lake 3,354 3,354 0 City of East Cleveland 2,309 0 2,309 Brighton Township 15 15 0 City of Euclid 6,330 6,330 0 Brownhelm Township 30 30 0 City of Fairview Park 2,177 2,177 0 Camden Township 21 21 0 City of Garfield Heights 3,733 3,733 0 Carlisle Township 141 141 0 Gates Mills Village 294 294 0 Columbia Township 124 124 0 Glenwillow Village 119 119 0 Eaton Township 176 176 0 City of Highland Heights 1,080 1,080 0 City of Elyria 13,417 13,417 0 Highland Hills Village 146 0 146 Elyria Township 83 83 0 Hunting Valley Village 76 0 76 Grafton Township 122 122 0 City of Independence 923 923 0 Grafton Village 47 47 0 City of Lakewood 6,745 6,745 0 Henrietta Township 35 35 0 Linndale Village 23 23 0 Huntington Township 23 23 0 City of Lyndhurst 1,812 1,812 0 Kipton Village 4 0 4 City of Maple Heights 2,994 0 2,994 Lagrange Township 70 0 70 City of Mayfield Heights 2,478 2,478 0 Lagrange Village 103 103 0 Mayfield Village 448 448 0 City of Lorain 19,073 19,073 0 City of Middleburg Heights 2,063 0 2,063 New Russia Township 34 34 0 Moreland Hills Village 430 430 0 City of North Ridgeville 3,298 3,298 0 Newburgh Heights Village 280 280 0 City of Oberlin 1,821 1,821 0 City of North Olmsted 4,233 4,233 0 Penfield Township 29 29 0 North Randall Village 133 133 0 Pittsfield Township 25 25 0 City of North Royalton 3,939 3,939 0 Rochester Township 11 11 0 Oakwood Village 474 474 0 Rochester Village 2 2 0 City of Olmsted Falls 1,168 0 1,168 City of Sheffield Lake 1,498 0 1,498 Olmsted Township 1,748 0 1,748 Sheffield Township 83 0 83 Orange Village 430 430 0 Sheffield Village 51 51 0 City of Parma 10,558 10,558 0 South Amherst Village 35 35 0 City of Parma Heights 2,681 0 2,681 Wellington Township 254 0 254 City of Pepper Pike 774 774 0 Wellington Village 25 25 0 City of Richmond Heights 1,365 1,365 0 City of Rocky River 2,615 2,615 0 Total Lorain County $102,532 $58,999 $43,533 City of Seven Hills 1,527 1,527 0 City of Shaker Heights 3,681 3,681 0 MEDINA COUNTY City of Solon 3,021 3,021 0 Medina County Commissioners $58,633 $58,633 $0 City of South Euclid 2,885 2,885 0 City of Strongsville 5,790 5,790 0 $706,748 $374,193 $332,555 City of University Heights 1,752 1,752 0 Valley View Village 263 263 0 Walton Hills Village 295 295 0 FY 2013 Dues Outstanding City of Warrensville Heights 1,752 1,752 0 City of Westlake 4,235 0 4,235 City of East Cleveland $3,403 $0 $3,403 Woodmere Village 114 114 0 City of Maple Heights 3,270 3,270 NEORSD 52,134 52,134 0 $6,673 $0 $6,673 GCRTA 52,134 0 52,134 Total Cuyahoga County $435,542 $146,520 $289,022 Total Received/Receivable $713,421 $374,193 $339,228

4 - 3 4 - 4

Agenda Item No. 5

PRESIDENT’S/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Agenda Item No. 6

RESOLUTIONS/ACTION ITEMS

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

MEMORANDUM

TO: NOACA Board of Directors

FROM: Grace Gallucci, Executive Director

DATE: December 6, 2013

RE: Resolution No. 2013-037: Geauga County – County Engineer Board Membership for December 2013

ACTION REQUESTED The Board of Directors is asked to approve Resolution No. 2013-037 which appoints Geauga County Engineer Joe Cattell to serve on the Board of Directors through December 31, 2013.

BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION FOR CURRENT ACTION The NOACA Code of Regulation provides Geauga County with three seats, one for each of its county commissioner’s on the Board of Directors. Commissioner Tracy Jemison retired on October 31, 2013. The remaining commissioners appointed County Engineer Joe Cattell to fill the vacant commissioner’s seat through the end of December 2013 on November 7, 2013.

FINANCIAL IMPACT There is no financial impact to Resolution No. 2013-003.

CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS Resolution No. 2013-037 appoints Geauga County Engineer Joe Cattell to the Board of Directors through December 31, 2013. Beginning January 1, 2014, the seat will revert to newly appointed Commissioner Blake Rear.

2614r mem/res 6 - 1

2614r mem/res 6 - 2 RESOLUTION NO. 2013-037 (Geauga County – County Engineer Board Membership for December 2013)

RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

WHEREAS, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the counties of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina, and the areawide water quality management agency for the same region; and

WHEREAS, Geauga County Commissioner Tracy Jemison retired on October 31, 2013 leaving Geauga County with only two representatives on the NOACA Board of Directors; and

WHEREAS, Commissioners Spidalieri and Samide acted on November 7, 2013 to fill the vacant seat by appointing Geauga County Engineer Joe Cattell to it through December 31, 2013; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, consisting of 45 principal officials serving general purpose local governments throughout and within the counties of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina that:

Section 1. Geauga County Engineer Joe Cattell is appointed to serve on the NOACA Board of Directors through December 31, 2013.

Section 2. The seat will revert to newly appointed Geauga County Commissioner Blake Rear on January 1, 2014.

Certified to be a true copy of a Resolution of the Governing Board of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency adopted this 8th day of March 2013.

Secretary:

Date Signed:

2614r mem/res 6 - 3

2614r mem/res 6 - 4

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

MEMORANDUM

TO: NOACA Board of Directors

FROM: Grace Gallucci, Executive Director

DATE: December 6, 2013

RE: Resolution No. 2013-038 – Project Planning Reviews – 2nd Quarter State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2014

ACTION REQUESTED The Board of Directors is asked to approve Resolution No. 2013-038, which acknowledges that the projects included in the resolution have successfully completed project planning review (PPR).

BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION FOR CURRENT ACTION Attached are PPR summary documents for projects presented to the NOACA Transportation Subcommittee (TS) at its November 15, 2013 meeting.

NOACA’s Regional Transportation Investment Policy (Resolution 2012-023) requires that all proposed federal-aid transportation projects be processed through PPR in order to meet NOACA’s adopted goals and federal requirements.

PPR consists of four components: staff review, committee review, intergovernmental review and consultation (IGRC), and public involvement. The end product of PPR is a Board resolution that certifies that the project has had thorough review, allowing the project to proceed to the programming stages of the planning process.

As part of the PPR process, a description of the proposed improvement and a staff assessment of the project are posted on NOACA’s website, www.NOACA.org. A link to the PPRs is included on the home page. Staff adds comments obtained from the public, governmental organizations and NOACA committees as they are received. Proposed projects are posted on the website for three months, allowing adequate time for review and comment.

The projects under review include roadway, safe routes to school, safety and transit projects sponsored by various entities.

2615r mem/res 6 - 5

FINANCIAL IMPACT The estimated total cost of the proposed projects is approximately $63.7 million, of which the total amount of NOACA-controlled funds being requested is $8.1 million. Funding for these projects is being provided from a variety of federal, state, and local sources. Federal funding is provided by the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration and is administered through NOACA and the Ohio Department of Transportation.

CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS The projects were presented to the TS on November 15, 2013 and recommended for Board approval. The adoption of Resolution No. 2013-038 is recommended.

Please contact either me or Ed May at [email protected], (216) 241-2414, ext. 287, if you have any questions.

GG/EM

Attachments: 6 Project Summaries

2615r mem/res 6 - 6 Title: Resurface SR-44 in Concord Township Sponsor: Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 12 PID No: 96593 Estimated Total Cost: $1,700,000 Proposed Source of Federal Funds: ODOT

History/Background: This project is included in ODOT District 12’s State Fiscal Year 2016 Pavement Program.

Current Conditions: SR-44 is functionally classified as an urban principal arterial, from the Geauga/Lake County line to IR-90. The average daily traffic is 2,804 vehicles per day (ODOT 2013).

Proposed Project: This project involves resurfacing of 2.26 miles of SR-44, from the Geauga/Lake County line to IR-90, in Concord Township (location map). The estimated total cost of the project is $1,700,000. The project will be will be financed at 100% with ODOT District Preservation funds. The project’s estimated award date is March 2016.

Staff Comment (Summary):

Short Range Planning–Project Development and Member Services Team: • This project is consistent with NOACA’s Connections+ 2035 Goals #3 (Preserve and Improve the Efficiency of the Transportation System). • According to the NOACA Regional Pavement Management System (RPMS), the 2012 pavement condition rating (PCR) for this section of SR-44 ranges from 77 to 78 (good condition). • Recommend committee and public review in order to obtain comments.

Intergovernmental Review and Consultation (IGRC):

Public Involvement:

Committee Review:

Transportation Subcommittee: • No comments; recommended for amendment to NOACA’s Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

6 - 7

I G D R

E IDG MENTOR R E AK EEK C CR Y JOHNN

608 PID 96593 44 LAK-44-0.00

CONCORD TOWNSHIP 90

KIRTLAND HILLS

K E E

S RIVER 6 - 8 NK E J Title: Safe Routes to School Projects in Cuyahoga and Lorain Counties Sponsor: Various Estimated Total Cost: $107,750 Proposed Source of Federal Funds: Safe Routes to School

History/Background: The goal of Ohio's Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program is to assist communities in developing and implementing projects and programs that encourage and enable children in grades K-8, including those with disabilities to walk or bike to school safely. Successful SRTS programs include an integrated approach that addresses all 5 E’s (engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement and evaluation) of the program. Local and regional governments, schools and community organizations ready, willing and able to implement SRTS initiatives are eligible to apply for funding. Funding is reimbursable and may be awarded at 100%. Ohio requires communities to develop a School Travel Plan. Funding is also available for planning activities (Safe Routes to Schools).

Proposed Projects: The following SRTS projects are sponsored by various communities and were selected by ODOT for SRTS funding in May 2013:

• CUY LYNDHURST SRTS FY2015 (INFRASTRUCTURE): PID No. 96347 - The Lyndhurst SRTS project will improve safety of pedestrians and bicycles to Sunview School and the City’s Brainard Park (location map). The infrastructure improvements include adding walkways and crosswalks on the Sunview School property to separate pedestrians from vehicles, installing school flashing lights and Americans with Disabilities (ADA) compliant curb ramps on Meadow Wood Boulevard and installation of bollards at the end of the ramps. The estimated total project cost, provided by the sponsor, is $63,000. The estimated cost of preliminary engineering detail design (PEDD) is $10,000. The estimated cost of construction is $53,000. The amount of funding ODOT awarded to the Lyndhurst SRTS project is $63,000, available to be spent at a rate of 100 percent. Anything over $63,000 will be funded by the sponsor.

• LOR LORAIN (CLEARVIEW SD) SRTS (NON-INFRASTRUCTURE): PID No. 96269 - The Clearview non-infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Vincent Elementary School and Durling Middle School (location map) through bike rodeo, developing educational and safety tip sheets for students and parents; incentives for walking/biking to school activities; conducting parent surveys and student travel tallies. The estimated total project cost, provided by the sponsor, is $6,750. The amount of funding ODOT awarded to the CLEARVIEW LS SRTS project is $6,750 available to be spent at a rate of 100 percent. Anything over $6,750 will be funded by the sponsor.

• LOR ELYRIA TWP SRTS (NON-INFRASTRUCTURE): PID No. 96271 - The Elyria Township non-infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Kindergarten Village School, Crestwood Elementary School and Westwood Middle School (location map) through: target enforcement in school area; implementing walking/biking safety in curriculum; incentives for walking/biking to school activities; in- school coordinators; Summer educational event to promote program; conducting parent surveys and student travel tallies. The estimated total project cost, provided by the sponsor, is $16,000. The amount of funding ODOT awarded to the ELYRIA TWP SRTS project is $16,000 available to be spent at a rate of 100 percent. Anything over $16,000 will be funded by the sponsor.

6 - 9 • LOR NORTH RIDGEVILLE SRTS (NON-INFRASTRUCTURE): PID No. 96272 - The North Ridgeville non-infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Lear North Elementary School, Liberty Elementary School, Wilcox Elementary School and North Ridgeville Middle School (location map) through: walking and biking safety material for Safetyville; incentives for participation in International Walk and Bike to School Days; bike safety assemblies; crossing guard safety measures; bike rodeo; and conducting parent surveys and student travel tallies. The estimated total project cost, provided by the sponsor, is $22,000. The amount of funding ODOT awarded to the NORTH RIDGEVILLE SRTS project is $22,000 available to be spent at a rate of 100 percent. Anything over $22,000 will be funded by the sponsor.

Staff Comment (Summary):

Short Range Planning–Project Development and Member Services Team:

• These projects are consistent with NOACA’s Connections+ 2035 Goal #3 (Preserve and Improve the Efficiency of the Transportation System) and #10 (Foster Improvement in the Quality of Life). • Recommend committee and public review in order to obtain comments.

Intergovernmental Review and Consultation (IGRC):

Public Involvement:

Committee Review:

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Council (BPAC):

• The BPAC supports these projects.

Transit Council:

• The Transit Council supports this project. It will further develop an environment that is safer for school-aged children to walk or bike to school, lessening dependence on vehicles. • The Transit Council is highly supportive of projects that derive from multimodal planning efforts.

Transportation Subcommittee:

• No comments; recommended for amendment to NOACA’s Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

6 - 10 6 - 11

6 - 12 6 - 13 P E R B H SYCAMORE ST B RONALD DR O LEAR NAGLE RD L

E N

C D T A LAUREL CIR

R ALBERTAV JAMES RD

U EMERALD ST NNA

M PAULA BL ED _1 MILDRED ST 14

MARK CT DENISE DR

EASTVIEWAV CORNELLAV

WALLACE BL

OLIVEAV

CHARLES RD CENTER RIDGE RD

JAYCOX RD

LEEAV WASHINGTON BL

LINCOLN AV

ROSEBELLEAV HARDING AV

RIDGE PLAZADR FORESTPARK DR ADAMS AV

CENTER RIDGE RD MONROE LN UNNAMED_109

DEBBIEDR

Y GLORIA AV

RIDGEVIEWBL E X

HADAWAY ST E R D FLORALINE AV GINA DR

SCHAFER RD A

GAIL DR Legend B C

Area Schools OHENRY CIR WOODLAWN AV

Middle School Student Addresses North Ridgeville Improvements G Middle School

CENTER RIDGE RD NR High GLENDALE RD Ladder-style Crosswalk, Signage School FAIRACRESRD D PITTSBL WIL-LOULN

ROOT RD DODGE AV

MILLERDR

Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon NICOLL DR

C GREENLAWN DR

K R F H O KENSINGTONY DR

Wilcox A Median Refuge Island I

Elementary C

Add reverse-mounted flasher, locate "End

School Zone" sign across street from flasher. D GLENDALE RD

MITCHELL DR

AVON BELDENAVON RD BAINBRIDGE RD Multi-use Path BAINBRIDGE RD Sidewalk

AURENSEN RD XAVIER CT Protected Path through Parking Lot PATTON DR

NOLL DR Center Ridge Widening (ODOT, 2016) DAVIS DR GRANT DR DENNY DR TIMOTHY DR

Future MUP Path (ODNR Grant) CHENNAULTDR WAINWRIGHTDR CADET DR

BLANCHARD DR CLARK DR WEST POINT DR BEHM RD BEHM RD 0200 400 800 Feet

DAVID DR 1 inch = 800 feet

NorthNorth RidgevilleRidgeville Map MapMiddleMiddle NameName SchoolSchool NorthNorth RidgevilleRidgeville CityCity SchoolSchool DistrictDistrictMap SubTitle 6 - 14 SafeSafe RoutesRoutes toto SchoolSchool ProgramProgram DORCHESTER AV

C H E S M T E DOWNING AV A R N F MANNING CIR

C IE LD DR GARRETT DR H ADELE ST E S AVON BELDENAVON RD T ER CIR NIKKI AV HIGHLAND DR

MANNING ST

TOPAZ CT ORCHARDLN

BIRCH ST LISA WAY MAY ST MAY ST

DANAPL

LEWIS ST AMANDA CT CHAUCER DR JASON DR B JADE CIR

THERESA ST

SULLIVAN DR JEWEL CIR

JAYCOX RD

GEM CIR FRANCES ST A SHAWN DR

PLEASANTAV

OXFORD CT MAINAV ELM ST ROSE ST

BROADBL ELDER ST Liberty E FOREST ST RIDGEVIEWBL Elementary C ASPEN ST

BRANCH ST A OPAL ST MONICA DR THELMA ST

WOOD ST CAROLYNDR A BEECH ST LUANNE DR DRAKE ST

LEAR NAGLE RD

ELYRIA ST SPRUCE ST

WALLACE BL

E DEBORAHDR

AVON AVON BELDENRD Legend ROSEBELLEAV JOANNE CT CROSS ST

LEEAV EASTVIEWAV OAK ST Area Schools

SANDELWOODAV LESLIE AV POPLAR ST Liberty Student Address CORNELLAV PEARL AV Approximate Attendance Boundary JOSEPH CT

LAUREL CIR Improvements DENISE DR

H SYCAMORE ST RONALD DR D O LEAR NAGLE RD D EMERALD ST R N E G D D RI Ladder-style Crosswalk, Improved Signage A R E D T

ALBERTAV N R E JAMES RD C

OLIVEAV

Add reverse-mounted flasher, locate "End PAULA BL MILDRED ST School Zone" sign across street from flasher. GARDEN ST MARK CT Multi-use Path Sidewalk CHARLES RD CENTER RIDGE RD

0200 400 800 Feet A Z WASHINGTON BL A E

FORESTPARK DR

1 inch = 800 feet G

S LINCOLN AV

MONROE LN

LibertyLiberty ElementaryElementaryMapMap NameName SchoolSchool NorthNorth RidgevilleRidgeville CityCity SchoolSchool DistrictDistrictMap SubTitle 6 - 15 SafeSafe RoutesRoutes toto SchoolSchool ProgramProgram Legend CHARLES RD

DENISE DR CENTER RIDGE RD Area Schools HELEN ST EASTVIEWAV CORNELLAV

WALLACE BL

OLIVEAV WASHINGTON BL

Wilcox Student Address LEAR NAGLE RD

JAYCOX RD LINCOLN AV Approximate Attendance Boundary

LEEAV BOULDER DR HARDING AV

ROSEBELLEAV

Improvements JEFFERSONAV

RIDGE PLAZADR

DEBBIEDR FORESTPARK DR ADAMS AV

CENTER RIDGE RD MONROE LN UNNAMED_109 Ladder-style Crosswalk, Improved Signage RIDGEVIEWBL GLORIA AV FOREST WOOD DR GLORIA AV E MADISONAV HADAWAY ST FLORALINE AV Install Bollards GINA DR CENTER RIDGE RD Add reverse-mounted flasher, locate "End SCHAFER RD School Zone" sign across street from flasher. GAIL DR Sidewalk, Sidewalk Connection

0200 400 800 Feet

OHENRY CIR WOODLAWN AV

1 inch = 800 feet BRECKCT NR Middle PITTSBL DI B CK School E N S HERSEY CIR C NR High IR

CENTER RIDGE RD GLENDALE RD

STEINBECK CT School C FAIRACRESRD WIL-LOULN

ROOT RD DODGE AV

MILLERDR

NICOLL DR

C GREENLAWN DR

K D R

AVON BELDENAVON RD O KENSINGTON DR Y Wilcox

Elementary STEINBECKCT

MAPLE DR CHESTNUT RIDGE RD

A GLENDALE RD

MITCHELL DR BAINBRIDGE RD BAINBRIDGE RD

AURENSEN RD A PATTON DR

NOLL DR DAVIS DAVIS DR GRANT DR DENNY DR TIMOTHY DR CHENNAULTDR WAINWRIGHTDR CADET DR BLANCHARD DR CLARK DR

WEST POINT DR BEHM RD BEHM RD B DAVID DR

WilcoxWilcox ElementaryElementaryMapMap NameName SchoolSchool NorthNorth RidgevilleRidgeville CityCity SchoolSchool DistrictDistrictMap SubTitle 6 - 16 SafeSafe RoutesRoutes toto SchoolSchool ProgramProgram GARRETT DR ADELE ST Legend

Lear North Elementary

HIGHLAND DR

SHADYMOSS LN MEADOW MOSS LN OAKHURST RD Lear North Student Address BARTONN RD

ORCHARDLN Improvements TOPAZ CT

BIRCH ST Add reverse-mounted flasher, locate "End MAY ST MAY ST School Zone" sign across street from flasher.

Install Bollards In Driveway LEWIS ST

MAINAV Ladder-style Crosswalk, Proper Signage JADE CIR Where Needed. L MILLSCREEK LN A OV EEK CR THERESA ST EADOW Sidewalk M

0125 250 500 Feet JEWEL CIR BROADBL

1 inch = 500 feet

CORNELLAV

GEM CIR D FRANCES ST SHAWN DR

PLEASANTAV

Lear North MCKINLEYAV IR Elementary H C NC RA B R A A D

C ELM ST PINE BRANCH CIR ROSE ST FOREST ST C

OLIVEAV

WALLACE BL B BRANCH ST MONICA DR THELMA ST

CENTER RIDGE RD

CAROLYNDR

BEECH ST

WHITE OAK WAY LUANNE DR

ROCKPOINT CIR BA Y LEAR NAGLE RD B MCKINLEYAV ER R Y C ELYRIA ST IR

DEBORAHDR

DENISE DR

JOANNE CT

H IC CROSS ST KO R Y T S LN R OS M E E R OPAL OPAL ST LESLIE AV T

EMERALD ST

FOXHOLLOW

CREEKSIDELN

LearLear NorthNorth ElementaryElementaryMapMap NameName SchoolSchool NorthNorth RidgevilleRidgeville CityCity SchoolSchool DistrictDistrictMap SubTitle 6 - 17 SafeSafe RoutesRoutes toto SchoolSchool ProgramProgram Title: Safety Projects in Cuyahoga and Medina Counties Sponsor: Various Proposed Source of Federal Funds: ODOT

History/Background: The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Safety program provides funds to ODOT and local governments for highway safety treatments or corrective activity designed to alleviate a safety problem or a potentially hazardous situation. The program is funded at approximately $100 million annually. Priority is given to those projects with recommended activities/countermeasures that improve safety at roadway locations with a high frequency, severity, and rate of crashes.

There are two application cycles per year. Applications must be signed off by the respective ODOT District Safety Review Team. A safety engineering study must typically accompany the application unless the application is for preliminary engineering funds to complete the study.

Proposed Projects: The following projects were selected for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding:

• CUY SR 252 – 4.11: PID No. 92910 - The project involves safety improvements on Great Northern Boulevard, from the IR-480 eastbound ramps to 500 feet north of Brookpark Road, in North Olmsted (location map) to address non-coordinated intersection operations, corridor congestion, imbalanced lane utilization and limited and non-conforming signage, contributing to safety and operational issues on Great Northern Boulevard. The project will include lane reconfiguration, median modifications, turn lane extensions, resurfacing and signage upgrades. The project’s estimated total cost is $1,390,000. Ninety percent ($1,251,000) of the construction cost will be funded with HSIP funds. The sponsor will provide the ten percent ($139,000) matching funds.

• MED IR 71 24.02: PID No. 96227 - The project involves improvements on SR-303, in Brunswick (location map). The project aims to reduce the occurrence of rear end and sideswipe crashes occurring on the IR-71 southbound ramp and IR-71 mainline due to traffic backups on the ramp and also reduce the congestion related crashes occurring on SR-303. The work includes widening and extending the storage lanes on the I-71 southbound ramp to SR 303; and extending the westbound right turn lane on SR 303 and restriping to accommodate through and right turn traffic. The project’s estimated total cost is $4,588,100. The estimated cost of preliminary engineering preliminary development (PEPD) is $196,500. The PEPD will be funded with HSIP funds ($155,228) and ODOT 3 funds ($41,272). The estimated cost of preliminary engineering detail design (PEDD) is $490,000. The PEDD will be funded with HSIP funds ($441,000) and ODOT 3 funds ($49,000). The estimated cost of right-of-way (RW) is $304,600. The RW will be funded with HSIP funds ($274,140) and ODOT 3 funds ($30,460). The estimated cost of construction (C) is $3,597,000. The C will be funded with HSIP funds ($3,237,300) and ODOT 3 funds ($359,700).

• MED SR 94 14.61: PID No. 96567 - The project involves the installation of a traffic signal on SR-94 at the IR-271 westbound ramp, in Granger Township (location map). This will provide gaps in the traffic stream on SR-94 and allow vehicles to exit the IR-271 westbound ramp, which frequently backs up onto the IR-271 mainline during pm peak hour. The project’s estimated total cost is $180,000. The estimated cost of preliminary engineering preliminary development (PEPD) is $10,000. The estimated cost of preliminary engineering detail design (PEDD) is $45,000. The estimated cost of right-of-

6 - 18 way (RW) is $15,000. The estimated cost of construction (C) is $110,000. All phases of the project will funded entirely with HSIP funds.

Staff Comment (Summary):

Short Range Planning: Project Development and Member Services Team:

• These projects are consistent with NOACA's Connections+ 2035 Goal #3 (Preserve and Improve the Efficiency of the Transportation System). • Recommend committee and public review in order to obtain comments.

Intergovernmental Review and Consultation (IGRC):

Public Involvement:

Committee Review:

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Council:

SR-252 Widening in North Olmsted • The proximity of high density apartments and a hotel to the east, as well as the Great Northern Mall and other shopping and dining destinations to the west, indicate that there may be a relatively high amount of potential pedestrian trips within the area. • The project sponsor should consider high visibility crosswalks. • The project sponsor should include pedestrian signals at Country Club Blvd. and the access road near the apartments.

The City of North Olmsted, project sponsor, responds, "All signalized intersections within the project limit have, and will continue to have, crosswalks for pedestrians. We will include high visibility crosswalks through the use of ladder style crosswalks as shown here.

Adding pedestrian crossings to a signalized intersection that does not currently have pedestrian heads is out of the scope/budget for this project. It may be more appropriate to address that during Phase 2 of the traffic signal system project."

I-71 Ramp Widening • The project sponsor should include a pedestrian warning sign (W11-2 in MUTCD) for vehicles exiting IR-71 onto SR-303 as they approach the new crosswalk.

6 - 19 ODOT District 3, project sponsor, responds, "There is not going to be a crosswalk there now. We originally showed sidewalk continuing east, crossing the ramps and ending on the east side of the SB exit ramp. However, there is no existing sidewalk under IR 71 or to the east so there is nowhere for pedestrians to go. Therefore, we are scoping the project to have the sidewalk stop at the dealership like it does today, so there will no longer be a crosswalk at the ramps (as was shown on the original drawing). Thank you for the comment and we agree the pedestrian warning signs would have been an appropriate use at this location.”

Transit Council:

SR-252 Widening in North Olmsted • The Transit Council supports this project and the addition of a bus pad in the south bound lane. • This portion of SR-252 is an important transit route for GCRTA’s #75 bus line and the North Olmsted park-and-ride lot located off Great Northern Boulevard just south of IR- 480. • Transit Council also suggests including enhanced cross walks.

Transportation Subcommittee:

• No comments; recommended for amendment to NOACA’s Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

6 - 20

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MED IR 271/SR 94 Ramp Clear (Signal) Project

Signal to be installed at the SR 94 (SLM 14.61) and IR 271 WB ramp intersection.

6 - 23 Title: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Fiscal Year 2014 Capital Grant Program Sponsor: RTA Estimated Total Cost: $45,621,497 Proposed Source of Federal Funds: Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

History/Background: RTA’s original state fiscal year 2014 grant program is listed in the NOACA SFY 2014 – 2017 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and the majority of the program is as originally proposed in the TIP. RTA is adding seven new projects to its federal fiscal year (FFY) 2014 program and the TIP.

Proposed Project: RTA is applying for various sources of funds, including Section 5307 Capital Formula, Section 5337 State of Good Repair Formula, and Section 5339 Bus Facilities Formula, as described below:

• Section 5307 Capital Formula projects include bus improvement program, information systems ADP (automatic data processing) hardware, ADP software, and third party technical support, fare collection system, bus and rail preventative maintenance, transit waiting environment, Brookpark station reconstruction, bus equipment program, OCS (office communications server) replacement and upgrade program, fiber optic hardware replacement construction, rail station door rehabilitation, and Hayden garage parking lot rehabilitation;

• Section 5337 Rail Formula projects include rail preventative maintenance, West 117th Street substation, sectionalized Tower City catenary system, second feed for East 55th Street substation, Brookpark station reconstruction, East 79th Street station and Lee- Shaker station reconstruction;

• Section 5339 Bus Facilities formula projects include purchasing 40 foot replacement buses and spare parts.

RTA is seeking to revise and amend two existing grants to match the final MAP-21 funding levels and to address projected under-runs, over-runs and revised priorities in its capital program. RTA’s revisions to the FFY 2013 grant program reflects these revisions and six new projects will be added to the TIP as described below:

• 2013 Section 5307 Urban Grant (OH-90-X782) – The grant is proposed to be revised to re-allocate funds on thirteen line items. The grant is also decreasing by $1,093,935 to match the final MAP-21 allocation. Funds previously committed to bus replacement and spare parts, information systems projects, bus preventative maintenance and rail preventative maintenance are being reduced. Additional funds are being allocated to the Clifton Boulevard transit enhancement, rail infrastructure and bus equipment programs, Lee-Shaker and East 34th Street station designs, and the CBM (central bus maintenance) facility fall protection system projects.

• 2013 Section 5337 State of Good Repair Grant (OH-54-0002) – The grant is proposed to be revised to re-allocate funds on fourteen line items. The grant is also increasing by $81,449 to match the final MAP-21 allocation. The Rail Infrastructure program is being reduced and the Rail State of Good Repair and Light Rail Platform Reconstruction programs are being eliminated in order to increase funding to specific projects. Additional funds will be allocated to the Red Line Track rehabilitation from Kinsman to

6 - 24 University, the Lee-Shaker and East 34th Street stations, the Shaker substation and design of RTA’s fiber optic hardware replacement projects.

Descriptions of the projects (project descriptions) in the RTA FY 2014 program, a list of projects and their associated costs by ALI (activity line item) are available in pdf.

Staff Comment (Summary):

Short Range Planning: Project Development and Member Services Team:

• This project is consistent with NOACA’s Connections+ 2035 Goals #3 (Preserve and Improve the Efficiency of the Transportation System), #4 (Establish Balanced System which Enhances Modal Choices), #5 (Improve Mobility of the Transit Dependent and Low Income Individuals) and #7 (Reinvestment in the Urban Core). • Recommend committee and public review in order to obtain comments.

Intergovernmental Review and Consultation (IGRC):

Public Involvement:

Committee Review:

Transit Council:

• The Transit Council supports projects that preserve or improve access to public transportation in the region. • Transit Council recommends approval of the proposed projects and the reallocation of project funds.

Transportation Subcommittee:

• No comments; recommended for amendment to NOACA’s Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

6 - 25 GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY FFY 2014 GRANT PROGRAM PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

Section 5307 Capital Formula (OH-90-XXXX)

Information Technology Program – This program is to purchase ADP hardware, ADP software and third party support for the upgrade of our Oracle System, Network Infrastructure, data center, phone system, and internet/intranet development. Funds have been programmed in 2014 to purchase ADP Hardware and Software and third party support services in support of these initiatives.

Fare Collection System – This project supports financing for the new fare collection system. GCRTA replaced nearly 800 fareboxes and introduced a proof-of-payment system on the Heavy Rail (Red Line) and BRT (HealthLine). Ticket vending machines and vending kiosks are also included. As approved by FTA, funds are programmed in 2014 for the project financing reimbursement.

Preventative Maintenance Bus – Preventive maintenance activities will include the purchase of inventory materials and supplies, equipment, as well as capitalized maintenance expenses (including mechanic labor) for bus operations.

Preventative Maintenance Rail – Preventive maintenance activities will include the purchase of inventory materials and supplies, equipment, as well as capitalized maintenance expenses and maintenance of the rail track right-of-way.

Transit Waiting Environment Program - This program replaces our Bus Shelter Replacement program. It represents a majority of GCRTA’s annual enhancement projects. For 2014 it is focused improving bus station areas and includes purchase and installation of bus shelters and other amenities at our bus stations.

Brookpark Station Reconstruction - The reconstruction of this 44-year old facility will be fully ADA compliant and include upgrades to the existing tunnel, new elevator core, rail platform, and passenger waiting areas. The existing west parking lot and east side bus transfer areas will also be reconstructed. This project would reconstruct and modernize RTA’s highest ridership rail station located on Brookpark Road in Brook Park, Ohio near the airport. Funds are programmed in 2014 to support the construction, third party construction inspection, force account and public art costs.

Bus Replacement Program - This project is part of a three-year program to replace a total of 105 40 foot vehicles that have reached the end of their useful life. Funds are programmed in 2014 to support the vehicle and spare parts purchases.

Bus Equipment Program – This project is to purchase equipment for the existing bus fleet that will enhance the safety and security of the vehicles. Funds are programmed in this grant for 2014 to support the equipment purchases.

OCS Replacement and Upgrade – This project is one year of a multi-year effort to replace parts, equipment, and supports for the Overhead Catenary System that are reaching the end of their useful life. Funds have been programmed in 2014 in support of the construction and GCRTA force account costs.

6 - 26 GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY FFY 2014 GRANT PROGRAM PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

Fiber Optic Hardware Replacement – This program involves replacement and upgrade of the hardware and nodes supporting our fiber optic network along our rail lines. Funds are programmed in 2014 to support the equipment and construction costs.

Rail Station Door Rehabilitation Program – This program involves replacement of doors at a number of rail stations throughout the GCRTA system. Funds are programmed in 2014 to support the material and construction costs.

Hayden Garage Parking Lot Rehabilitation – This project is part of our overall pavement improvement program and is the rehabilitation of the GCRTA employee and visitor lot at the Hayden Garage Facility. Funds are programmed in 2014 to support the construction and force account costs.

Section 5337 State of Good Repair Formula (OH-54-XXXX)

West 117th Street Substation Rehabilitation - This project is to upgrade the building and modernize and replace outdated equipment at this 59-year old facility. We will be replacing the roof, transformers, rectifiers, and control gear. New fire, electrical, phone and emergency call boxes will be included with the warning systems and meet all new code requirements. Funds are programmed in 2014 in support of the design and GCRTA administration costs.

Sectionalized Tower City Catenary System - This project is to upgrade and modernize the overhead catenary system through the Tower City Center station. It will provide the ability to easily isolate and de-energize the various tracks operating through Tower City. Funds are programmed in 2014 in support of the construction and GCRTA force account costs.

Second Feed for East 55th Street Substation - This project is to upgrade and provide redundant electrical service feeds for this substation, which serves the operating track, rail yard, and Rail Maintenance Facility. Funds are programmed in 2014 in support of the construction and GCRTA force account costs.

Rail Infrastructure Program - This project funds the acquisition of equipment and materials and construction required to upgrade the rail line infrastructure on RTA’s 34 miles of rail track. It will assist RTA in providing safer, faster rail service along the Red, Blue, and Green rail lines. Funds are programmed in 2014 to support this program.

6 - 27 GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY FFY 2014 GRANT PROGRAM PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

the airport. Funds are programmed in 2014 to support the construction and project administration costs.

East 79th Street Station ADA Reconstruction – This project is for the design and reconstruction of ADA upgrades of the heavy rail station and platform. Funds are programmed in 2014 for the design, GCRTA project administration, and third party support during the design phase.

Lee-Shaker Station Reconstruction – This project is for the reconstruction and ADA upgrade of the light rail platforms that are reaching the end of their useful life. Funds are programmed in 2014 for the construction, force account labor and materials, and third party support during the construction phase.

Section 5339 Bus Facility Grants (OH-34-XXXX and OH-34-0003)

Bus Replacement Program - This project is part of a three-year program to replace a total of 105 40 foot vehicles that have reached the end of their useful life. Funds are programmed in 2013 and 2014 grants to support the vehicle and spare parts purchases.

6 - 28 GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY FFY 2014 GRANT PROGRAM AND REVISIONS TO FFY 2013 GRANT PROGRAM

ALI # PROJECT & TASK DESCRIPTION PID # BUDGET FEDERAL LOCAL

Section 5307 FFY 2014 Capital Formula (OH-90-XXXX) 11.42.07 Information Systems Replacement Hardware 90080 $443,250 $354,600 $88,650 11.42.08 Information Systems Replacement Software 90080 $268,250 $214,600 $53,650 11.71.11 Information Systems 3rd Party Contracts 90080 $356,500 $285,200 $71,300 11.32.06 Fare Collection System Lease 90145 $2,426,110 $1,940,888 $485,222 11.7A.00 Preventative Mainenance - Bus 90148 $10,000,000 $8,000,000 $2,000,000 12.7A.00 Preventative Mainenance - Rail 90149 $610,696 $488,557 $122,139 11.93.02 Transit Waiting Environment Program 90168 $288,783 $231,026 $57,757 12.34.02 Brookpark Station Reconstruction Construction 90173 $9,345,200 $7,476,160 $1,869,040 12.71.04 Brookpark Station Reconstruction 3rd Party Const. Mgmt. 90173 $125,000 $100,000 $25,000 12.72.08 Brookpark Station Reconstruction Force Account 90173 $165,400 $132,320 $33,080 12.93.04 Brookpark Station Reconstruction Public Art 90173 $137,900 $110,320 $27,580 11.12.01 Bus Replacement Program Vehicles 94687 $2,103,842 $1,683,074 $420,768 11.12.40 Bus Replacement Program Spare Parts 94687 $82,895 $66,316 $16,579 11.12.40 Bus Equipment Program $390,000 $312,000 $78,000 12.54.01 OCS Replacement and Upgrade Construction $110,976 $88,781 $22,195 12.72.08 OCS Replacement and Upgrade Force Account $10,300 $8,240 $2,060 12.64.02 Fiber Optic Hardware Replacement Construction $500,000 $400,000 $100,000 12.34.02 Rail Station Door Rehabilitation Program Construction $209,213 $167,370 $41,843 11.44.02 Hayden Garage Parking Lot Rehabilitation Construction $190,000 $152,000 $38,000 11.72.08 Hayden Garage Parking Lot Rehabilitation Force Account $20,000 $16,000 $4,000 \ $27,784,315 $21,892,082 $5,473,020

Section 5337 FFY 2014 State of Good Repair Formula (OH-54-XXXX) 12.7A.00 Preventative Maintenance - Rail 90149 $6,889,304 $5,511,443 $1,377,861 12.51.03 West 117th Street Substation Replacement Design 90157 $116,000 $92,800 $23,200 12.79.00 West 117th Street Substation Replacement Project Admin. 90157 $35,000 $28,000 $7,000 12.54.03 Sectionalized Tower City Catenary System Construction 90159 $594,000 $475,200 $118,800 12.72.08 Sectionalized Tower City Catenary System Force Account 90159 $66,000 $52,800 $13,200 12.51.03 Second Feed for East 55th Street Substation Design 90160 $55,000 $44,000 $11,000 12.79.00 Second Feed for East 55th Street Substation Project Admin. 90160 $11,000 $8,800 $2,200 12.7A.00 Rail Infrastructure Program 90163 $622,783 $498,226 $124,557 12.34.02 Brookpark Station Reconstruction Construction 90173 $2,500,000 $2,000,000 $500,000 12.79.00 Brookpark Station Reconstruction Project Administration 90173 $31,024 $24,819 $6,205 12.31.02 East 79th Street Station ADA Reconstruction Design $1,587,600 $1,270,080 $317,520 12.71.04 East 79th Street Station ADA Reconst. 3rd Party Const. Mgmt. $95,917 $76,734 $19,183 12.79.00 East 79th Street Station ADA Reconstruction Project Admin. $112,455 $89,964 $22,491 12.34.02 Lee-Shaker Station Reconstruction Construction $1,212,750 $970,200 $242,550 12.71.04 Lee-Shaker Station Reconstruction 3rd Party Const. Mgmt. $77,175 $61,740 $15,435 12.72.08 Lee-Shaker Station Reconstruction Force Account $137,813 $110,250 $27,563 12.72.11 Lee-Shaker Station Reconstruction Force Account Materials $16,537 $13,230 $3,307 Total $14,160,358 $11,328,286 $2,832,072

Section 5339 FFY 2014 Bus Facilities Grant (OH-34-XXXX) 11.12.01 Bus Replacement Program Vehicles 94687 $2,274,315 $1,819,452 $454,863 11.12.40 Bus Replacement Program Spare Parts 94687 $70,340 $56,272 $14,068 Total $2,344,655 $1,875,724 $468,931

Section 5339 FFY 2013 Bus Facilities Grant (OH-34-0003) 11.12.01 Bus Replacement Program Vehicles 90068 $2,269,655 $1,815,724 $453,931 11.12.40 Bus Replacement Program Spare Parts 90068 $75,000 $60,000 $15,000 Total $2,344,655 $1,875,724 $468,931

Section 5307 FFY 2013 Capital Formula (OH-90-X782) Revisions 11.21.01 Clifton Boulevard Transit Enhancement Design 89030 $175,000 $140,000 $35,000 11.23.01 Clifton Boulevard Transit Enhancement Construction 89030 $960,000 $768,000 $192,000 11.12.01 Bus Replacement Program Vehicles 90068 -$2,269,655 -$1,815,724 -$453,931 11.12.40 Bus Replacement Program Spare Parts 90068 -$75,000 -$60,000 -$15,000 11.42.08 Information Systems Replacement Software 90080 -$150,000 -$120,000 -$30,000

4.b. FFY 2014 Grant Funding for Projects - NOACA 083013.xls 6 - 29 GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY FFY 2014 GRANT PROGRAM AND REVISIONS TO FFY 2013 GRANT PROGRAM

ALI # PROJECT & TASK DESCRIPTION PID # BUDGET FEDERAL LOCAL 11.71.11 Information Systems 3rd Party Contracts 90080 -$50,000 -$40,000 -$10,000 11.7A.00 Bus State of Good Repair Preventative Maintenance 90108 -$300,000 -$240,000 -$60,000 11.7A.00 Preventative Mainenance - Bus 90148 -$1,135,000 -$908,000 -$227,000 12.7A.00 Preventative Mainenance - Rail 90149 -$57,080 -$45,664 -$11,416 12.7A.00 Rail Infrastructure Program 90163 $149,100 $119,280 $29,820 11.12.40 Bus Equipment Program $646,000 $516,800 $129,200 12.31.02 Lee-Shaker Station Reconstruction Design $110,000 $88,000 $22,000 12.71.04 Lee-Shaker Station Reconstruction 3rd Party Const. Mgmt. $39,100 $31,280 $7,820 12.31.02 East 34th Street Station Reconstruction Design $588,600 $470,880 $117,720 12.71.04 East 34th Street Station Reconstruction 3rd Party Const. Mgmt. $75,000 $60,000 $15,000 11.42.20 CBM Fall Protection System $200,000 $160,000 $40,000 Total -$1,093,935 -$875,148 -$218,787

Section 5337 FFY 2013 State of Good Repair Formula (OH-54-0002) Revision 12.7A.00 Rail State of Good Repair Preventative Maintenance 90114 -$450,000 -$360,000 -$90,000 12.7A.00 Preventative Maintenance - Rail 90149 $57,080 $45,664 $11,416 12.7A.00 Rail Infrastructure Program 90163 -$828,826 -$663,061 -$165,765 12.7A.00 Redline Track Rehab Kinsman to University Construction 90166 $1,127,845 $902,276 $225,569 12.31.02 Light Rail Station Platform Reconst. Design 92672 -$22,000 -$17,600 -$4,400 12.34.02 Light Rail Station Platform Reconst. Construction 92672 -$267,850 -$214,280 -$53,570 12.71.04 Light Rail Station Platform Reconst. 3rd Party Const. Mgmt. 92672 -$16,500 -$13,200 -$3,300 12.72.08 Light Rail Station Platform Reconst. Force Account 92672 -$6,000 -$4,800 -$1,200 12.79.00 Light Rail Station Platform Reconst. Project Administration 92672 -$4,000 -$3,200 -$800 12.79.00 Lee-Shaker Station Reconstruction Project Administration $54,600 $43,680 $10,920 12.79.00 East 34th Street Station Reconstruction Project Administration $54,600 $43,680 $10,920 12.54.03 Shaker Substation Transformer & Rectifier Construction $325,000 $260,000 $65,000 12.72.08 Shaker Substation Transformer & Rectifier Force Account $7,500 $6,000 $1,500 12.61.02 Fiber Optic Hardware Replacement Design $50,000 $40,000 $10,000 Total $81,449 $65,159 $16,290

Grand Total $45,621,497 $36,161,826 $9,040,458

4.b. FFY 2014 Grant Funding for Projects - NOACA 083013.xls 6 - 30 Title: Resurface Roads at Various Locations in Geauga County Sponsor: Geauga County Engineer Proposed Source of Federal Funds: NOACA

History/Background: On July 30, 2013, the Board of County Commissioners, Geauga County, Ohio, approved Resolutions for the resurfacing of Auburn Road (Res. 13-143), Claridon Troy Road (Res. 13-144), Mentor Road (Res. 13-145), Munn Road (Res. 13-147) and for the reconstruction of Washington Street (Res. 13-144). The project will improve a total of 13.15 miles of roadway.

The Geauga County Engineer is requesting a total of $5,280,000 of NOACA-controlled Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds for the following projects:

GEA AUBURN RD (CH-4) SECTIONS D & E – This project involves resurfacing (the lanes and partial shoulder with asphalt) 2.38 miles of Auburn Road, from Washington Street to Franks Road, in Auburn Township (location map). The shoulders along Section E will be paved to match the cross section of Section D. The estimated construction cost is $750,000. The sponsor requests that eighty percent ($600,000) of the construction cost be funded with STP funds. The Geauga County Engineer will provide the non-federal share of construction ($150,000). The project can be designed and ready to construct by July 2016.

GEA CLARIDON TROY RD (SECTIONS A - C) – This project involves resurfacing (the lanes and partial shoulder with asphalt) 1.46 miles of Claridon Troy Road, from the Burton Village north corporation line to Taylor Wells Road, in Burton Township (location map). The estimated construction cost is $425,000. The sponsor requests that eighty percent ($340,000) of the construction cost be funded with STP funds. The Geauga County Engineer will provide the non- federal share of construction ($85,000). The project can be designed and ready to construct by July 2016.

GEA MENTOR RD (CH-5n) – This project involves resurfacing (the lanes and partial shoulder with asphalt) 4.82 miles of Mentor Road, from State Route 44 to Lake County/Geauga County line, in Chardon Township (location map). The estimated construction cost is $1,000,000. The sponsor requests that eighty percent ($800,000) of the construction cost be funded with STP funds. The Geauga County Engineer will provide the non-federal share of construction ($200,000). The project can be designed and ready to construct by July 2017.

GEA MUNN RD (CH-32) SECTION D – This project involves resurfacing (the lanes and partial shoulder with asphalt) 1.49 miles of Munn Road, from Washington Street to Stafford Road, in Auburn Township (location map). The estimated construction cost is $425,000. The sponsor requests that eighty percent ($340,000) of the construction cost be funded with STP funds. The Geauga County Engineer will provide the non-federal share of construction ($85,000). The project can be designed and ready to construct by July 2018.

GEA WASHINGTON ST (CH-606) SECTIONS G - J – This project involves reconstructing the drainage features, lanes, curbs and shoulders of 3 miles of Washington Street, from Munn Road to Ravenna Road (SR-44), in Auburn Township (location map). The sponsor reports that the curb along the eastbound section (south side) of the highway will be removed and returned to an open drainage situation. The estimated construction cost is $4,000,000. The sponsor requests that eighty percent ($3,200,000) of the construction cost be funded with STP funds. The Geauga County Engineer will provide the non-federal share of construction ($800,000). The project can be designed and ready to construct by April 2017.

6 - 31

The preliminary engineering and right-of-way costs will be borne by the sponsor. Geauga County Engineer staff will design the projects. The county engineer will request to administer the projects following local standards.

Staff Comment (Summary):

Short Range Planning: Project Development and Member Services Team: • These projects are consistent with NOACA’s Connections+ 2035 Goal #3 (Preserve and Improve the Efficiency of the Transportation System). • According to the NOACA Regional Pavement Management System (RPMS), the 2012 pavement condition rating (PCR) for the above roadway segments range from 77 to 89 (good condition). • Recommend committee and public review in order to obtain comments.

Intergovernmental Review and Consultation (IGRC):

Public Involvement:

Committee Review:

Transportation Subcommittee:

• No comments; recommended for amendment to NOACA’s Transportation Plan.

6 - 32 6 - 33 6 - 34 6 - 35 6 - 36 6 - 37 Title: Resurface Greenwich Road in Medina County Sponsor: Medina County Engineer Estimated Total Cost: $3,522,000 Proposed Source of Federal Funds: NOACA

History/Background: On May 2013, authorizing legislation was enacted between the Board of County Commissioners, Medina County Ohio, the Village of Seville and the Village of Westfield Center for the resurfacing on Greenwich Road, in Medina County.

Proposed Project: The proposed project involves resurfacing approximately 7.48 miles along Greenwich Road, from Harris Road to SR-3, in Harrisville, Westfield and Guilford Townships, Seville Village and Westfield Center Village (location map). The estimated total cost, provided by the sponsor, is $3,522,000. The sponsor requests that 80 percent ($2,817,600) of the construction cost be funded with NOACA-administered Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds. The sponsor will provide the remaining share ($704,400).

Staff Comment (Summary):

Short Range Planning: Project Development and Member Services Team:

• This project is consistent with NOACA’s Connections+ 2035 Goal #3 (Preserve and Improve the Efficiency of the Transportation System). • According to the NOACA Regional Pavement Management System (RPMS), the 2012 pavement condition rating (PCR) for this section of Greenwich Road ranges from 63 (fair condition) to 85 (good condition). • Recommend committee and public review in order to obtain comments.

Intergovernmental Review and Consultation (IGRC):

Public Involvement:

Committee Review:

Transportation Subcommittee:

• No comments; recommended for amendment to NOACA’s Transportation Plan.

6 - 38 6 - 39 6 - 40 RESOLUTION NO. 2013-038 (PROJECT PLANNING REVIEWS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

WHEREAS, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the counties of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina, and the areawide water quality management agency for the same region; and

WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States, through law, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, through regulation, have determined that a long-range transportation plan and a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that include federal-aid transportation projects expected to be implemented during their time frames shall be prepared; and

WHEREAS, the NOACA’s Regional Transportation Investment Policy (Resolution No. 2012-023) requires that all proposed federal-aid transportation projects be processed through project planning review in order to meet transportation plan goals and federal requirements; and

WHEREAS, project planning review consists of staff technical and policy assessment, committee review, public involvement, and Intergovernmental Review and Consultation; and

WHEREAS, the following projects have been processed through project planning review:

a. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): LAK SR-44 - 0.00: PID No. 96593 - This project involves resurfacing SR-44, from the Geauga/Lake County line to IR-90, in Concord Township.

b. City of Lyndhurst: CUY LYNDHURST SRTS FY2015 (INFRASTRUCTURE): PID No. 96347 - This Safe Routes to School (SRTS) project involves treatments to improve safety of pedestrians and bicycles to Sunview School and Brainard Park, in Lyndhurst.

c. City of Lorain: LOR CLEARVIEW SD (LORAIN) SRTS: PID No. 96269 - This SRTS non- infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Vincent Elementary School and Durling Middle School in Lorain.

d. Elyria Township LOR ELYRIA TWP SRTS: PID No. 96271 - This SRTS non-infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Kindergarten Village School, Crestwood Elementary School and Westwood Middle School in Elyria Township.

e. City of North Ridgeville: LOR NORTH RIDGEVILLE SRTS: PID No. 96272 - This SRTS non- infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Lear North Elementary School, Liberty Elementary School, Wilcox Elementary School and North Ridgeville Middle School in North Ridgeville.

f. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY SR-252 - 4.11: PID No. 92910 - This project involves lane reconfiguration, median modifications, turn lane extensions, resurfacing and signage upgrades on Great Northern Boulevard, from the IR-480 eastbound ramps to Brookpark Road, in North Olmsted. RESOLUTION NO. 2013-038 (PROJECT PLANNING REVIEWS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

g. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): MED IR-71 - 24.02: PID No. 96227 - This project involves widening and extending the storage lanes on the IR-71 southbound ramp to SR-303 and extending the westbound right turn lane on SR-303, in Brunswick.

h. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): MED SR-94 -14.61: PID No. 96567 - This project involves the installation of a traffic signal on SR-94 at the IR-271 southbound ramp, in Granger Township.

i. GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY (GCRTA) FY 2014 AND 2013 GRANT PROGRAMS - GCRTA is amending its federal fiscal year (FFY) 2014 program for Section 5307 Capital Formula, Section 5337 State of Good Repair Formula, and Section 5339 Bus Facilities Formula funding and revising its FFY 2013 Section 5307 Urban Grant (OH-90- X782) and Section 5337 State of Good Repair Grant (OH-54-0002) grants.

j. Geauga County Engineer: GEA AUBURN RD (CH-4) SECTIONS D & E - This project involves resurfacing Auburn Road, from Washington Street to Franks Road, in Auburn Township.

k. Geauga County Engineer: GEA CLARIDON TROY RD (SECTIONS A - C) - This project involves resurfacing Claridon Troy Road, from the Burton Village north corporation line to Taylor Wells Road, in Burton Township.

l. Geauga County Engineer: GEA MENTOR RD (CH-5n) - This project involves resurfacing Mentor Road, from SR-44 to the Lake County/Geauga County line, in Chardon Township.

m. Geauga County Engineer: GEA MUNN RD (CH-32) SECTION D - This project involves resurfacing Munn Road, from Washington Street to Stafford Road, in Auburn Township.

n. Geauga County Engineer: GEA WASHINGTON ST (CH-606) SECTIONS G - J - This project involves reconstructing Washington Street, from Munn Road to Ravenna Road (SR-44), in Auburn Township.

o. Medina County Engineer: MED GREENWICH RD: PID No. 96879 - This project involves resurfacing Greenwich Road, from Harris Road to SR-3, in Harrisville Township, Westfield Township, Guilford Township, Seville Village and Westfield Center Village.

WHEREAS, the project planning reviews may contain recommendations that require project sponsor attention or action; and

WHEREAS, it is expected that the project sponsors will, in good faith, endeavor to address comments and recommendations and will provide evidence of such, prior to the project advancing; and

WHEREAS, the above project planning reviews were approved and recommended by the Transportation Subcommittee (TS).

RESOLUTION NO. 2013-038 (PROJECT PLANNING REVIEWS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

Section 1: The referenced projects have successfully completed project planning review. The project planning reviews are a part of the projects’ permanent record, and will be used in future programming and prioritization decisions. The projects are not subject to additional planning review unless there are significant changes in scope or finances, as determined by the Transportation Subcommittee.

Section 2: The project sponsors must endeavor to comply with any recommendations that have occurred as a result of the project planning review and will provide evidence of such in coordination meetings with NOACA staff. NOACA staff will report back to appropriate NOACA committees and the Board regarding the coordination meetings.

Section 3: The Executive Director is authorized to transmit certified copies of this resolution to appropriate federal, state, and local agencies.

Certified to be a true copy of a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency adopted this 13th day of December 2013.

Secretary: ______

Date Signed:______

RESOLUTION NO. 2013-038 (PROJECT PLANNING REVIEWS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

MEMORANDUM

TO: NOACA Board of Directors

FROM: Grace Gallucci, Executive Director

DATE: December 6, 2013

RE: Resolution No. 2013-039 – Plan and TIP Amendments – 2nd Quarter State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2014

ACTION REQUESTED The Board of Directors is asked to approve Resolution No. 2013-039, which directs that NOACA’s long-range transportation plan (Plan) and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) be amended to include the proposed projects as indicated. Please note that some of the projects listed are to be amended to the Plan, some to the TIP, and others to both the Plan and TIP.

BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION FOR CURRENT ACTION The proposed amendments to the Plan and the state fiscal year (SFY) 2014 – 2017 TIP have all been processed through project planning review (PPR). The projects include roadway, safe routes to school, safety and transit projects sponsored by various entities.

Several of the projects are being amended to the TIP to reflect recently approved funding and construction schedules for ODOT’s Major New Capacity Program. The projects are contained within NOACA’s Connections+ 2035 long-range transportation plan. Financing has been approved by the Transportation Review and Advisory Council (TRAC) and the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Committee (OTIC) to enable the advancement of the respective projects implementation schedules.

FINANCIAL IMPACT The estimated total cost of the proposed projects is approximately $627 million, including $23.8 million of NOACA controlled funds. Funding for these projects is being provided from a variety of federal, state, and local sources. Federal funding is provided by the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration and is administered through NOACA and the Ohio Department of Transportation.

CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS Following Board approval, the amendment will be incorporated into the statewide TIP amendment in January 2014.

2616r mem/res 6 - 45 RESOLUTION NO. 2013-039 (PLAN AND TIP AMENDMENTS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States, through law, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, through regulation, have determined that MPOs shall create a long-range, 20-year transportation plan and a four-year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that list federal-aid transportation projects expected to be implemented in each of the program years; and

WHEREAS, the NOACA Board’s Regional Transportation Investment Policy requires that all proposed federal-aid transportation projects be processed through project planning review in order to meet transportation plan goals and federal requirements; and

WHEREAS, the following projects are proposed amendments to the NOACA long-range transportation plan (Connections+ 2035):

a. City of Lyndhurst: CUY LYNDHURST SRTS FY2015 (INFRASTRUCTURE): PID No. 96347 - This Safe Routes to School (SRTS) project involves treatments to improve safety of pedestrians and bicycles to Sunview School and Brainard Park, in Lyndhurst.

b. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY SR-252 - 4.11: PID No. 92910 - This project involves lane reconfiguration, median modifications, turn lane extensions, resurfacing and signage upgrades on Great Northern Boulevard, from the IR-480 eastbound ramps to Brookpark Road, in North Olmsted.

c. Geauga County Engineer: GEA AUBURN RD (CH-4) SECTIONS D & E - This project involves resurfacing Auburn Road, from Washington Street to Franks Road, in Auburn Township.

d. Geauga County Engineer: GEA CLARIDON TROY RD (SECTIONS A - C) - This project involves resurfacing Claridon Troy Road, from the Burton Village north corporation line to Taylor Wells Road, in Burton Township.

e. Geauga County Engineer: GEA MENTOR RD (CH-5n) - This project involves resurfacing Mentor Road, from SR-44 to the Lake County/Geauga County line, in Chardon Township.

f. Geauga County Engineer: GEA MUNN RD (CH-32) SECTION D - This project involves resurfacing Munn Road, from Washington Street to Stafford Road, in Auburn Township.

g. Geauga County Engineer: GEA WASHINGTON ST (CH-606) SECTIONS G - J - This project involves reconstructing Washington Street, from Munn Road to Ravenna Road (SR-44), in Auburn Township.

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6 - 46 RESOLUTION NO. 2013-039 (PLAN AND TIP AMENDMENTS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

h. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): LAK SR-44 - 0.00: PID No. 96593 - This project involves resurfacing SR-44, from the Geauga/Lake County line to IR-90, in Concord Township.

i. City of Lorain: LOR CLEARVIEW SD (LORAIN) SRTS: PID No. 96269 - This SRTS non- infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Vincent Elementary School and Durling Middle School in Lorain.

j. Elyria Township: LOR ELYRIA TWP SRTS: PID No. 96271 - This SRTS non-infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Kindergarten Village School, Crestwood Elementary School and Westwood Middle School in Elyria Township.

k. City of North Ridgeville: LOR NORTH RIDGEVILLE SRTS: PID No. 96272 - This SRTS non- infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Lear North Elementary School, Liberty Elementary School, Wilcox Elementary School and North Ridgeville Middle School in North Ridgeville.

l. Medina County Engineer: MED GREENWICH RD: PID No. 96879 - This project involves resurfacing Greenwich Road, from Harris Road to SR-3, in Harrisville Township, Westfield Township, Guilford Township, Seville Village and Westfield Center Village.

m. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): MED IR-71 - 24.02: PID No. 96227 - This project involves widening and extending the storage lanes on the IR-71 southbound ramp to SR-303 and extending the westbound right turn lane on SR-303, in Brunswick.

n. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): MED SR-94 -14.61: PID No. 96567 - This project involves the installation of a traffic signal on SR-94 at the IR-271 southbound ramp, in Granger Township.

o. GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY (GCRTA) FY 2014 AND 2013 GRANT PROGRAMS - GCRTA is amending its federal fiscal year (FFY) 2014 program for Section 5307 Capital Formula, Section 5337 State of Good Repair Formula, and Section 5339 Bus Facilities Formula funding and revising its FFY 2013 Section 5307 Urban Grant (OH-90- X782) and Section 5337 State of Good Repair Grant (OH-54-0002) grants.

WHEREAS, the following projects are proposed amendments to the state fiscal year (SFY) 2014 - 2017 TIP:

b. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY OPPORTUNITY CORRIDOR: PID No. 77333 - This project involves the construction of a new roadway, from East 55th Street at IR-490 to East 105th Street at Chester Avenue, in Cleveland. The project’s preliminary engineering preliminary development (PEPD), preliminary engineering detailed design (PEDD) and right-of-way (RW) phases will advance from the plan to the TIP.

c. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY SR-10 - 21.49: PID No. 96832 - This project 2616r mem/res

6 - 47 RESOLUTION NO. 2013-039 (PLAN AND TIP AMENDMENTS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

involves widening and reconstruction of East 105th Street (SR-10), from Quebec Avenue to Chester Avenue (US-322), in Cleveland (Section 1 of the Opportunity Corridor). The project’s preliminary engineering preliminary development (PEPD) and construction (C) phases will advance from the plan to the TIP.

d. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY/SUM IR-77 - 00.00/32.73: PID No. 79671 - This project involves widening and reconstruction on IR-77, from south of SR-21 to Richfield/Cuyahoga County Line in Richfield Township and from the Cuyahoga County Line to south of Oakes Rd, in Brecksville. The project’s preliminary engineering preliminary development (PEPD), preliminary engineering detailed design (PEDD) and construction (C) phases will advance from the plan to the TIP.

e. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY INNERBELT CCG6B BROADWAY: PID No. 82388 - This project involves the replacing the bridge on Broadway Avenue (SR-14), over IR-77, in Cleveland and reconstructing ramps (J5 and J6). The Broadway Avenue entrance ramp to IR- 77 southbound will be redirected along a new frontage road to be constructed from Broadway Avenue to Pershing Avenue to maintain access to IR-77 southbound. Work also includes minor modifications to the Pershing Avenue, Broadway Avenue, and IR-490 interchanges. The project’s preliminary engineering preliminary development (PEPD), preliminary engineering detailed design (PEDD), right-of-way (RW) and construction (C) phases will advance from the plan to the TIP.

f. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY IR-77 - 14.35 CCG6A: PID No. 13567 - This project involves replacing and widening (to six lanes) the mainline IR-77 Bridge, over IR-490, in Cleveland. The project’s preliminary engineering detailed design (PEDD) will advance from the plan to the TIP.

g. City of Broadview Heights: CUY SR-82 - 10.17: PID No. 96947 - This project involves widening SR-82 (Royalton Road), from three lanes to five lanes, from SR-176 (Broadview Rd) to Treeworth Boulevard, in Broadview Heights. The project’s preliminary engineering preliminary development (PEPD) and preliminary engineering detailed design (PEDD) will advance from the plan to the TIP to be funded with Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds.

h. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY SR-252 - 4.11: PID No. 92910 - This project involves lane reconfiguration, median modifications, turn lane extensions, resurfacing and signage upgrades on Great Northern Boulevard, from the IR-480 eastbound ramps to Brookpark Road, in North Olmsted.

i. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): CUY IR-490/SR-10 - 02.09/19.19: PID No. 96833 - This project involves construction on a new alignment, from west of E 55th Street to Quebec Avenue, in Cleveland (Section 2 of the Opportunity Corridor). The project’s construction (C) phase will advance from the plan to the TIP.

j. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): LAK SR-44 - 0.00: PID No. 96593 - This project involves resurfacing SR-44, from the Geauga/Lake County line to IR-90, in Concord Township.

k. City of Lorain: LOR CLEARVIEW SD (LORAIN) SRTS: PID No. 96269 - This SRTS non- infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Vincent Elementary School and Durling Middle School in Lorain. 2616r mem/res

6 - 48 RESOLUTION NO. 2013-039 (PLAN AND TIP AMENDMENTS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

l. Elyria Township: LOR ELYRIA TWP SRTS: PID No. 96271 - This SRTS non-infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Kindergarten Village School, Crestwood Elementary School and Westwood Middle School in Elyria Township.

m. City of North Ridgeville: LOR NORTH RIDGEVILLE SRTS: PID No. 96272 - This SRTS non- infrastructure project aims to educate, encourage, and evaluate students at Lear North Elementary School, Liberty Elementary School, Wilcox Elementary School and North Ridgeville Middle School in North Ridgeville.

n. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): LOR US-20 - 22.19 (CENTER RIDGE RD): PID No. 82632 - This project involves widening and rehabilitation of US-20, from west of Stoney Ridge Road to Lear Nagle Road, in North Ridgeville. The project’s right-of-way (RW) and construction (C) phases will advance from the plan to the TIP.

o. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): LOR SR-57 - 19.42: PID No. 82645 - This project involves adding lanes on SR-57, from IR-80 to IR-90, interchange modifications at IR-90 and removal of the 49th Street Bridge, in Elyria. The project’s construction (C) phase will advance from the plan to the TIP.

p. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): MED US-42 - 17.68: PID No. 92954 - This project involves reconstruction and adding lanes on US-42, from Harding Street to Fenn Road, in Medina and Medina Township. The project’s right-of-way (RW) and construction (C) phases will advance from the plan to the TIP.

q. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): MED IR-71 - 24.02: PID No. 96227 - This project involves widening and extending the storage lanes on the IR-71 southbound ramp to SR-303 and extending the westbound right turn lane on SR-303, in Brunswick.

r. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT): MED SR-94 -14.61: PID No. 96567 - This project involves the installation of a traffic signal on SR-94 at the IR-271 southbound ramp, in Granger Township.

s. GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY (GCRTA) FY 2014 AND 2013 GRANT PROGRAMS - GCRTA is amending its federal fiscal year (FFY) 2014 program for Section 5307 Capital Formula, Section 5337 State of Good Repair Formula, and Section 5339 Bus Facilities Formula funding and revising its FFY 2013 Section 5307 Urban Grant (OH-90- X782) and Section 5337 State of Good Repair Grant (OH-54-0002) grants.

WHEREAS, nonattainment and maintenance areas through a process called transportation conformity are required to demonstrate that emissions resulting from planned transportation system improvements will not exceed an area's approved emissions budget; and

WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) establishes air pollution standards pursuant to the Clean Air Act for the preservation of public health and the environment; and

WHEREAS, the USEPA designated the counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, 2616r mem/res

6 - 49 RESOLUTION NO. 2013-039 (PLAN AND TIP AMENDMENTS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

Medina, Portage, and Summit a maintenance area under the 1997 eight-hour ozone standard; and designated the Ashtabula Township portion of Ashtabula County, and the counties of Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit a non-attainment area under the 1997 annual fine particles standard and designated the counties of Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit a nonattainment area under the 2006 daily fine particles standard; and

WHEREAS, a quantitative air quality analysis of changes to the region’s Transportation Conformity Highway Networks involving items "d - f", under proposed TIP amendments, demonstrates that the Connections+ 2035 long-range plan and SFY 2014-2017 TIP are in conformity with the applicable air quality standards of the State Implementation Plan; and

WHEREAS, items "b, c, g, i and n – p” are also capacity adding projects in conformity with the applicable air quality standards of the State Implementation Plan; and

WHEREAS, all other projects are excluded from regional emissions analysis and do not affect the existing plan and TIP’s air quality conformity determination; and

WHEREAS, the necessary interagency consultation between the Cleveland/Akron Air Quality Area partners (FHWA; Ohio EPA; Erie Regional Planning Commission (ERPC) for the Lorain County portion of the City of Vermilion; Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) for Portage and Summit Counties; NOACA for Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina Counties; and ODOT for Ashtabula County) has occurred to establish conformity under the eight-hour ozone and fine particles standard and establish conformity for the daily fine particles standard.

WHEREAS, the above projects are consistent with current financial forecasts and plans; and

WHEREAS, it is expected that the project sponsors will, in good faith, endeavor to address comments and recommendations raised during project planning review and will provide evidence of such, prior to the project advancing; and

WHEREAS, the above projects are recommended by the Transportation Subcommittee (TS) as amendments to the Plan and TIP as appropriate.

Section 1: The referenced projects in Attachment A have had appropriate review and are recommended for approval.

Section 2: The NOACA transportation plan and TIP are amended to include the projects in Attachment A for project development and processing review purposes.

Section 3: The Executive Director is authorized to transmit certified copies of this resolution to appropriate federal, state, and local agencies.

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6 - 50 RESOLUTION NO. 2013-039 (PLAN AND TIP AMENDMENTS 2nd QUARTER SFY 2014)

Certified to be a true copy of a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency adopted this 13th day of December 2013.

Secretary: ______

Date Signed: ______

2616r mem/res

6 - 51 Resolution No. 2013-039 SFY 2014 - 2017 Transportation Improvement Program Highway and Bikeway Element Amendments 12/6/13 PID Project Description Type of Work Funding Data AQ required? 96347 CUY LYNDHURST SRTS FY2015 Safety Improvements PEDDSRS $10,000 2014 exempt Lyndhurst: CE SRS $3,000 2015 Project includes traffic safety upgrades, including school flashers, CO SRS $50,000 2015 ADA ramps, improvements to crosswalks and sidewalks at $63,000 Sunview Elementary School

77333 CUY OPPORTUNITY CORRIDOR New Roadway/New PE ODOT $1,000 2014 analyzed Cleveland: Alignment RW ODOT $4,000,000 2014 E 55th St at IR 490 to E 105th St at Chester Ave RW NHPP $16,000,000 2014 RW ODOT $4,000,000 2014 RW NHPP $16,000,000 2014 PEPDS/STP $150,000 2014 PEPDS/STP $370,000 2014 PEDDS/STP $1,485,298 2014 PEPDS/STP $345,925 2014 PEPDS/STP $168,075 2014 PEDDTRAC $13,000,000 2015 $55,520,298

96832 CUY SR010-21.49 Widen & Reconstruction CE ODOT $474,000 2015 exempt Cleveland: CE S/STP $1,896,000 2015 Quebec Ave to US 322 (Chester Ave) CO OTIC $36,100,000 2015 PRELIMINARY PE & RW UNDER OPPORTUNITY CORRIDOR PEDDOTIC $2,900,000 2015 (SECTION 1): PID No. 77333 $41,370,000

82388 CUY INNERBELT CCG6B BROADWAY Major Reconstruction PEPDODOT $400,000 2014 analyzed Cleveland: PEPDNHPP $3,600,000 2014 Remove and build new longer bridge for SR 14 (Broadway) PEDDODOT $230,000 2014 over IR 77. Reconstruct ramp J5 and ramp J6 to provide standard lane widths and merge distances. Work includes minor PEDDNHPP $2,070,000 2014 modifications to the Pershing, Broadway, and I-490 interchanges. RW ODOT $100,000 2015 The existing Broadway entrance ramp to IR 77 SB will be RW NHPP $900,000 2015 redirected along a new Frontage Road to be constructed from CE ODOT $30,628 2016 Broadway to Pershing Avenue to maintain access to IR-77 SB. CE NHPP $275,653 2016 PROJECT SPLIT FROM CUY INNERBELT IR077 GRP2: PID No. 80406 CE ODOT $58,472 2016 CE NHPP $526,247 2016 CO ODOT $990,309 2016 CO NHPP $8,912,784 2016 CO ODOT $1,890,591 2016 CO NHPP $17,015,316 2016 $37,000,000

96947 CUY SR082-10.17 Widen from 3 lanes to 5 PEDDBdvw Hts $60,000 2015 analyzed Broadview Hts: lanes PEDDHSIP $540,000 2015 East of SR-176 (Broadview Rd) to Treeworth Blvd 1.40 miles PEPDBdvw Hts $60,000 2015 PEPDHSIP $540,000 2015 RW Bdvw Hts $50,000 Plan RW STP $720,000 Plan RW Bdvw Hts $720,000 Plan CE Bdvw Hts $260,124 Plan CE STP $260,124 Plan CO Bdvw Hts $3,455,931 Plan CO STP $3,455,931 Plan $10,122,110

92910 CUY SR252-04.11 HSIP Minor Widening CE N Olms $9,000 2015 exempt North Olmsted: CE HSIP $81,000 2015 0.66 miles SR 252 SB between SR 17 (Brookpark Road) and IR-480 WB CO N Olms $130,000 2015 CO HSIP $1,170,000 2015 $1,390,000

GEA AUBURN RD (CH 4) SECTIONS D & E Resurface C GEA CO $150,000 Plan exempt Auburn Twp: C STP $600,000 Plan 2.38 miles Washington St to Franks Rd $750,000

GEA CLARIDON TROY RD (SECTIONS A - C) Resurface C GEA CO $85,000 Plan exempt Burton Twp: C STP $340,000 Plan 1.46 miles Burton Village NCL to Taylor Wells Rd $425,000

GEA MENTOR RD (CH 5N) Resurface C GEA CO $200,000 Plan exempt Chardon Twp: C STP $800,000 Plan 4.82 miles SR-44 to Geauga/Lake County line $1,000,000

GEA MUNN RD (CH 32) SECTION D Resurface C GEA CO $85,000 Plan exempt Auburn Twp: C STP $340,000 Plan 1.49 Washington St to Stafford Rd $425,000

GEA WASHINGTON ST (CH 606) SECTIONS G - J Reconstruct C GEA CO $800,000 Plan exempt Auburn Twp: C STP $3,200,000 Plan 3.0 miles Munn Rd to SR 44 (Ravenna Rd) $4,000,000

96593 LAK SR044-00.00 Resurfacing CO ODOT $340,000 2016 exempt Concord Twp: CO NHPP $1,360,000 2016 2.07 miles Geauga/Lake County Line to IR 90 $1,700,000

96271 LOR ELYRIA TWP PHASE 2 SRTS Develop Safety Program PL SRS $16,000 2014 exempt Elyria Twp: $16,000 Develop safety program to educate and encourage students to participate in walking/biking activities

96272 LOR NORTH RIDGEVILLE SD SRTS Develop Safety Program PL SRS $22,000 2014 exempt North Ridgeville: $22,000 Develop safety program to educate and encourage students to participate in walking/biking activities

PE=preliminary engineering, RW=right of way, C=construction, CE=construction engineering, CO=construction contract, PEDD=preliminary engineering detailed design, PEPD=preliminary engineering preliminary development, AR=archeological recovery Resolution No. 2013-039 SFY 2014 - 2017 Transportation Improvement Program Highway and Bikeway Element Amendments 12/6/13 PID Project Description Type of Work Funding Data AQ required? 82632 LOR US020-22.19 (CENTER RIDGE RD) Widen from 3 lanes to 5 PE Fed $239,828 2014 analyzed North Ridgeville: lanes & Rehab. PE ODOT $59,957 2014 US 20-22.19 (West of Stoney Ridge Rd) to 24.21 (Lear Nagle Rd) 2.30 miles RW NHPP $6,784,000 2014 RW ODOT $160,000 2014 RW NHPP $640,000 2014 RW N Rdgvl $3,520,000 2014 RW N Rdgvl $1,696,000 2014 PEDDS/STP $256,650 2014 PEPDNHPP $320,000 2014 PEPDODOT $160,000 2014 PEPDNHPP $640,000 2014 PEPDODOT $80,000 2014 PEPDNHPP $320,000 2014 PEDDN Rdgvl $85,550 2014 PEPDODOT $80,000 2014 RW ODOT $150,000 2016 RW NHPP $600,000 2016 CO ODOT $2,710,280 2017 CO N Rdgvl $6,355,140 2017 CO STP $4,672,897 2017 CO N Rdgvl $1,168,224 2017 CO HSIP $4,672,897 2017 CO N Rdgvl $1,168,224 2017 CE Fed $758,878 2017 CE ODOT $189,720 2017 CE N Rdgvl $444,860 2017 CE STP $327,102 2017 CE N Rdgvl $81,776 2017 CE Fed $327,102 2017 CE N Rdgvl $81,776 2017 CO NHPP $10,841,121 2017 PE=preliminary engineering, RW=right of way, C=construction, CE=construction engineering, CO=construction contract, PEDD=preliminary engineering detailed design, PEPD=preliminary engineering preliminary development, AR=archeological recovery Resolution No. 2013-039 SFY 2014 - 2017 Transportation Improvement Program Highway and Bikeway Element Amendments 12/6/13 PID Project Description Type of Work Funding Data AQ required? $49,591,982

82645 LOR SR057-19.42 Add lanes & Modify RW ODOT $9,650 2014 analyzed Elyria: Interchange RW S/STP $38,600 2014 19.42 (IR 80 ramps) to 20.35 (IR 90 ramps) 0.93 miles CE ODOT $209,376 2014 Project involves adding lanes in each direction from IR 80 to IR 90, interchange modifications at IR 90 and removal of the 49th St CE ODOT $837,504 2014 Bridge CE Elyria $104,688 2014 THIS PROJECT WAS CREATED FROM THE CORRIDOR CE STP $418,752 2014 STUDY: CE Elyria $1,000 2014 LOR SR57-16.17: PID No. 76242 CO Elyria $1,495,312 2014 CO STP $5,981,248 2014 CO Elyria $10,000 2014 CO OTIC $14,953,120 2014 RW ODOT $20,000 2015 RW S/STP $80,000 2015 $24,159,250

96879 MED GREENWICH RD (CR 97-00.16) Mill & Fill CE MED CO $64,200 Plan exempt Harrisville Twp, Westfield Twp, Westfield Center, Guilford Twp, CE STP $256,800 Plan 7.48 miles Seville: CO MED CO $640,200 Plan Harris Rd (TR 149) to SR 3 CO STP $2,560,800 Plan $3,522,000

96567 MED SR094-14.61 (IR 271 RAMP) Install Traffic Signal RW HSIP $15,000 2014 exempt Granger Twp: PEPDHSIP $10,000 2014 SR 94 at IR 271 SB exit ramp PEDDHSIP $45,000 2014 CE HSIP $10,000 2015 CO HSIP $100,000 2015 $180,000

SFY 2014 - 2017 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP) TRANSIT ELEMENT AMENDMENT Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency (GCRTA) Sorted by PID No.

Project Air Project Name (ie Estimate Fund Type Oblig. PID Project Description Phase Estimate SFY SAC Obligation Description Quality ALI - Qty XXX CRS) Line Item Code Total Status

THESE PROJECTS ARE CURRENTLY IN THE TIP/STIP WITH THE REVISIONS HIGHLIGHTED

89030 CUY US 006 07.64 Clifton Boulevard Transit Enhancement Capital $140,000 $1,135,000 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.21.01 89030 $35,000 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.21.01 89030 $768,000 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.23.01 89030 $192,000 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.23.01

GCRTA CY 2012-14 GCRTA SFY 2012-2014 Bus Improvement Program. 90068 Capital $4,275,883 $7,881,017 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.12.01 2013 Bus Improvement Includes FY2013 UTP 40' buses (7). 90068 Capital $1,068,971 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.01 90068 Capital $153,206 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.12.40 90068 Capital $38,302 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.40 90068 Capital $1,815,724 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5339 Bus Facilities Formula Exempt 11.12.01 90068 Capital $453,931 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.01 90068 Capital $60,000 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5339 Bus Facilities Formula Exempt 11.12.40 90068 Capital $15,000 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.40

90080 GCRTA 2012 IT GCRTA 2013 Information Systems Capital $70,600 $264,750 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.42.08 90080 Capital $17,650 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.42.08 90080 Capital $141,200 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.71.11 90080 Capital $35,300 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.71.11

GCRTA 2012 Bus 90108 Bus State of Good Repair Capital $0 $0 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.7A.00 SOGR 90108 Capital $0 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.7A.00 90108 Capital $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.7A.00 90108 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.7A.00

Page: 1 of 7 Resolution No. 2013-039 12/6/13

SFY 2014 - 2017 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP) TRANSIT ELEMENT AMENDMENT Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency (GCRTA) Sorted by PID No.

Project Air Project Name (ie Estimate Fund Type Oblig. PID Project Description Phase Estimate SFY SAC Obligation Description Quality ALI - Qty XXX CRS) Line Item Code Total Status

90114 GCRTA 2012 SOGR Rail State of Good Repair Capital $0 $0 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.7A.00 90114 Capital $0 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00 90114 Capital $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.7A.00 90114 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00

GCRTA Preventive 11.7A.00 Fed 90148 Bus Preventive Maintenance Capital $5,092,000 $16,365,000 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt Maintenance 2013 90148 Capital $1,273,000 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.7A.00 90148 Capital $8,000,000 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.7A.00 2014 90148 Capital $2,000,000 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.7A.00

GCRTA Rail Prev 12.7A.00 Fed 90149 Rail Preventive Maintenance Capital $3,762,819 $15,000,000 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt Maintenance 2013 90149 Capital $940,705 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00 12.7A.00 90149 Capital $2,237,181 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 5307 90149 Capital $559,295 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00 90149 Capital $5,511,443 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.7A.00 2014 90149 Capital $1,377,861 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00 90149 Capital $488,557 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.7A.00 90149 Capital $122,139 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00

GCRTA LRV Fleet 90155 LRV Fleet Reliability Program Capital $0 $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.12.40 SOGR 90155 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.12.40 90155 Capital $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.72.08 90155 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.72.08

Page: 2 of 7 Resolution No. 2013-039 12/6/13

SFY 2014 - 2017 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP) TRANSIT ELEMENT AMENDMENT Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency (GCRTA) Sorted by PID No.

Project Air Project Name (ie Estimate Fund Type Oblig. PID Project Description Phase Estimate SFY SAC Obligation Description Quality ALI - Qty XXX CRS) Line Item Code Total Status

GCRTA Rail 90163 Rail Infrastructure Program Capital $119,280 $1,443,057 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.7A.00 Infrastructure 90163 Capital $29,820 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00 90163 Capital $536,939 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.7A.00 90163 Capital $134,235 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00 90163 Capital $498,226 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.7A.00 90163 Capital $124,557 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00

GCRTA Red Line 90166 Red Line Track Rehab - Kinsman to University Capital $902,276 $1,127,845 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.7A.00 Track 90166 Capital $225,569 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.7A.00

GCRTA 2013 90168 Transit Waiting Environment Program Capital $231,026 $288,783 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.93.02 Planning 90168 Capital $57,757 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.93.02

GCRTA Brookpark 90173 Brookpark Station Rehabilitation Capital $7,476,160 $11,845,200 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.34.02 Stat Rehab 90173 Capital $1,869,040 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.34.02 90173 Capital $2,000,000 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.34.02 90173 Capital $500,000 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.34.02

Page: 3 of 7 Resolution No. 2013-039 12/6/13

SFY 2014 - 2017 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP) TRANSIT ELEMENT AMENDMENT Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency (GCRTA) Sorted by PID No.

Project Air Project Name (ie Estimate Fund Type Oblig. PID Project Description Phase Estimate SFY SAC Obligation Description Quality ALI - Qty XXX CRS) Line Item Code Total Status

GCRTA LR Platform 92672 Light Rail Station Platform Reconstruction Capital $0 $0 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.31.02 Reconstruction 92672 Capital $0 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.31.02 92672 Capital $0 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.34.02 92672 Capital $0 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.34.02 92672 Capital $0 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.71.04 92672 Capital $0 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.71.04 92672 Capital $0 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.72.08 92672 Capital $0 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.72.08 92672 Capital $0 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.79.00 92672 Capital $0 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.79.00 92672 Capital $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.31.02 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.31.02 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.34.02 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.34.02 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.71.04 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.71.04 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.72.08 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.72.08 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.79.00 2014

92672 Capital $0 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.79.00 2014

Page: 4 of 7 Resolution No. 2013-039 12/6/13

SFY 2014 - 2017 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP) TRANSIT ELEMENT AMENDMENT Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency (GCRTA) Sorted by PID No.

Project Air Project Name (ie Estimate Fund Type Oblig. PID Project Description Phase Estimate SFY SAC Obligation Description Quality ALI - Qty XXX CRS) Line Item Code Total Status

GCRTA CY 2015-17 94687 GCRTA SFY 2015-2017 Bus Improvement Program Capital $1,683,074 $4,531,392 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.12.01 Bus Improvement 94687 Capital $420,768 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.01 94687 Capital $66,316 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.12.40 94687 Capital $16,579 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.40 94687 Capital $1,819,452 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5339 Bus Facilities Formula Exempt 11.12.01 94687 Capital $454,863 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.01 94687 Capital $56,272 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5339 Bus Facilities Formula Exempt 11.12.40 94687 Capital $14,068 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.40

ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ARE NEW PROJECTS TO BE ADDED TO THE TIP/STIP

GCRTA Bus Bus Equipment Program Capital $516,800 $1,036,000 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.12.40 Capital $129,200 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.40 Capital $312,000 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.12.40 Capital $78,000 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.12.40

GCRTA Rail Catenary OCS Replacement and Upgrade Program Capital $88,781 $121,276 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.54.01 Capital $22,195 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.54.01 Capital $8,240 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.72.08 Capital $2,060 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.72.08

GCRTA Rail Fiber Optic Hardware Replacement Capital $40,000 $550,000 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.61.02 Communications Capital $10,000 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.61.02 Capital $400,000 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.64.02 Capital $100,000 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.64.02

GCRTA Rail Rail Station Door Rehabilitation Program Capital $167,370 $361,213 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.34.02 Capital $41,843 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.34.02

Page: 5 of 7 Resolution No. 2013-039 12/6/13

SFY 2014 - 2017 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP) TRANSIT ELEMENT AMENDMENT Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency (GCRTA) Sorted by PID No.

Project Air Project Name (ie Estimate Fund Type Oblig. PID Project Description Phase Estimate SFY SAC Obligation Description Quality ALI - Qty XXX CRS) Line Item Code Total Status

GCRTA Bus Hayden Garage Parking Lot Rehabilitation Capital $152,000 $210,000 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.44.02 Capital $38,000 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.44.02 Capital $16,000 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.72.08 Capital $4,000 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.72.08

GCRTA East 79 Stat East 79th Street Station ADA Rehabilitation Capital $1,270,080 $1,795,972 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.31.02 Rehab Capital $317,520 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.31.02 Capital $76,734 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.71.04 Capital $19,183 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.71.04 Capital $89,964 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.79.00 Capital $22,491 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.79.00

GCRTA Lee-Shaker Lee-Shaker Station ADA Rehabilitation Capital $88,000 $1,647,975 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.31.02 Stat Rehab Capital $22,000 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.31.02 Capital $31,280 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.71.04 Capital $7,820 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.71.04 Capital $43,680 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.79.00 Capital $10,920 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.79.00 Capital $970,200 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.34.02 Capital $242,550 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.34.02 Capital $61,740 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.71.04 Capital $15,435 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.71.04 Capital $110,250 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.72.08 Capital $27,563 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.72.08 Capital $13,230 2014 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.72.11 Capital $3,307 2014 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.72.11

Page: 6 of 7 Resolution No. 2013-039 12/6/13

SFY 2014 - 2017 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP) TRANSIT ELEMENT AMENDMENT Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Agency (GCRTA) Sorted by PID No.

Project Air Project Name (ie Estimate Fund Type Oblig. PID Project Description Phase Estimate SFY SAC Obligation Description Quality ALI - Qty XXX CRS) Line Item Code Total Status

GCRTA East 34thStat East 34th Street Station ADA Rehabilitation Capital $470,880 $718,200 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.31.02 Rehab Capital $117,720 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.31.02 Capital $60,000 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 12.71.04 Capital $15,000 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.71.04 Capital $43,680 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.79.00 Capital $10,920 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.79.00

GCRTA Bus CBM Fall Protection System Capital $160,000 $200,000 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5307 Urban Formula ProgramExempt 11.42.20 Capital $40,000 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 11.42.20

GCRTA Shaker Shaker Substation Transformer & Rectifier Capital $260,000 $332,500 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.54.03 Substation Capital $65,000 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.54.03 Capital $6,000 2013 FTAD Federal Transi 5337 State of Good Repair Exempt 12.72.08 Capital $1,500 2013 TOTH Local Match 0003 Local Other Exempt 12.72.08

Page: 7 of 7

2616r mem/res

6 - 52

Agenda Item No. 7

OLD BUSINESS

Agenda Item No. 8

NEW BUSINESS

Agenda Item No. 9

PRESENTATIONS

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

MEMORANDUM

TO: NOACA Board of Directors

FROM: Grace Gallucci, Executive Director

DATE: November 1, 2013

RE: Board Member Orientation and Regional Strategic Plan

ACTION REQUESTED The Board of Directors will participate in an orientation session on NOACA’s roles and responsibilities, focusing on the implementation of the new Board Committee structure created by adoption of Resolution 2013-027 on August 9th 2013, and the continued development of vision statements.

BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION FOR CURRENT ACTION As part of the regional strategic planning process that began last fall, which included a Board retreat in February, much progress has been made toward ensuring a more effective organization. A Code of Regulations update resulted in the creation of standing committees to better involve and utilize the expertise of Board members and better drive agency results. A thorough review of the changes, their impact, and the practical aspect of implementation will be the emphasis of the session.

Furthermore at the December Board meeting, we will share possible vision statements based on the worksheets and visioning session which was held at the October Board meeting, and will work with members to further refine it for future adoption by the Board of Directors. The summary of the previous exercises is attached.

FINANCIAL IMPACT There is no financial impact at this time.

CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS In calendar year 2014, it is anticipated that the new committee structure will be implemented and the new committees will begin meeting in February. It is also anticipated that the regional strategic plan will be completed, which will include Board approval of a vision statement, Board participation in the development of goals to achieve the vision, as well as the identification of strategies that staff will use to accomplish the goals.

9 - 1

9 - 2 NOACA Visioning Workshop Notes Friday, October 11, 2013

GROUP 1

Participants: • Robert Blomquist, Mayor of Olmsted Falls • Edward Jerse, Director of Regional Collaboration • Tom Williams, County Commissioner • Marty Cader (alternate for Robert Brown, City of Cleveland Planning Director)

Flip Chart Vision Statement (approximate): Vision: Regional collaboration to preserve and enhance existing infrastructure and achieve a balanced, sustainable multi-modal transportation system that attracts population, jobs and investment.

Preliminary Goals: • Promote regional cohesion through NOACA’s unique role in bringing together diverse representation from throughout the region to develop unified, pragmatic approaches to regional needs. • Assure that NOACA is a vehicle for vibrant, open and transparent discussion of transportation, environmental and economic development issues. • Focus strategic investment around the region’s existing public transit system, and encourage transit-oriented development. • Prioritize future investments that maintain and enhance the region’s existing infrastructure. • Provide for the movement of goods essential to the economic viability of the region

Common Themes: • Economic development tied to infrastructure • Looking at things regionally (how cities can pool their resources) • Sustainability • ‘Fix it First’ • Spending money wisely

9 - 3 GROUP 2

Participants: • Tanisha Briley, City Manager of Cleveland Heights • Bonita Teeuwen, Public Works Director • Stephen Hambley, Board of Commissioners • Jennifer Kurko, (alternate for Kurt Princic, Ohio EPA) • Leslie Farley (ODOT, non-Board member/alternate)

Flip Chart Vision Statement: ‘Be good stewards of the region’s resources leading to greater mobility, quality of life, and economic development and jobs’

Common Themes: • Fix it First • Preservation • Balanced Transportation System • Economic Development/ Job Attraction • Good Stewards • Cost Effective Utilization of Resources

9 - 4 GROUP 3

Participants: • Joe Calabrese, General Manager GCRTA • Christopher Easton, Service Director, City of Wadsworth • Timothy DeGeeter, Mayor of Parma • Michael Salay, County Engineer • Mamie Mitchell, Councilwoman Ward 6

Flip Chart Vision Statement: ‘Responsible planning to maximize regional investments, preserve existing infrastructure, and a balanced transportation system to support business attraction, retention, and expansion and enhance quality of life.’

Most Important Elements for Vision Statement: • Preserve existing infrastructure – “Fix it First” was seen as the most important of the Top Vision Statement Elements • #2 (Support business attraction, retention and expansion) and #5 (Attract population, jobs, investment) were considered redundant • Need to preserve existing infrastructure and develop a balanced transportation system in order to attract and retain population, jobs and investment • Also liked ‘Be good stewards of regional resources’ but thought it was better worded as ‘efficient and responsible planning to maximize financial and natural resources’

Other Notes: • Statement should include ‘promote regional mobility’ • Adopt Philadelphia’s vision statement • Retain and attract population/jobs. • Preserving quality of life should be the ultimate goal of NOACA, but disagreement on what improves quality of life.

9 - 5 GROUP 4

Participants: • Samuel Alai, Mayor of Broadview Heights • Ray Jurkowski, Laketran • Kathleen Scheutzow, Brunswick Hills Trustee • Susan Infeld, Mayor of University Heights

Flip Chart Vision Statement: ‘Maintain existing infrastructure and develop a balanced transportation system while promoting the outstanding cultural, health care system, and quality of life issues important to all life styles.’

Most Important Elements for Vision Statement (from index cards):

• ‘Preserve existing infrastructure’ and ‘Develop balanced transportation system’ • ‘Attract population, jobs, investment’ and ‘Develop balanced transportation system’ • ‘Preserve existing infrastructure’ and ‘Develop balanced transportation system’ • Draft vision statement: Investment in our population and jobs through the development of a balanced transportation system while preserving existing infrastructure promotes our region as an attractive place to live.

Other Notes: • Move people around in a manner that benefits the economy • Moves goods, industry and people: ports, intermodal connectors, trains, highways, businesses. • Address moving through the area. • Need to address the economic needs of companies to be served by the transportation system. If movement is made easy, regionalism will follow. • People don’t appreciate the quality of life they have here – arts, sports, affordability. • Concerns about the aging population – 1/10 over 60 moving towards 1/3 over time • Need tax base to support that situation. • Also need to attract young people and we need jobs to do that. • Noted that regions are competing with each other. • Noted that the older generation moved to where they found a job, now younger people are moving to where they like the quality of life and finding a job after they get there. Part of quality of life is often transportation options and absence of congestion. • Noted that Playhouse Square is the second largest theater district after NY.

9 - 6

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

MEMORANDUM

TO: NOACA Board of Directors

FROM: Grace Gallucci, Executive Director

DATE: December 6, 2013

RE: Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) Update

ACTION REQUESTED No action is requested at this time.

BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION FOR CURRENT ACTION Funded by a Partnership for Sustainable Communities planning grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), NEOSCC has worked since January 2011 to develop a coordinated and integrated approach to planning efforts for land use, transportation, economic and workforce development, and infrastructure investments for a 12-county planning area comprised of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Summit, Stark, Trumbull and Wayne counties. In short, NEOSCC’s goal is to identify the means by which northeast Ohio governments can achieve a vibrant, resilient, and sustainable region through collaboration.

NEOSCC’s efforts have been centered on the collection and evaluation of data related to conditions in northeast Ohio. The data has been shared through a series of public sessions in an effort to identify what the ideal region would look like. In the first sessions during April and May, participants focused on a “business as usual” outcome for the area. After being presented with that outcome, they were asked to identify how they would alter that outcome by using development-type chips in a mapping exercise.

In July and August, participants in the second set of sessions were presented with four possible scenarios for the future: Trend; Grow the Same; Grow Differently, and Do Things Differently. They were then asked to weigh in on those scenarios and to identify what constitutes an ideal community to them using speedometer-like charts.

NEOSCC has recently completed the last series of visioning sessions. During this session, participants were shown a possible vision for the future based on input received to date. They were then polled for additional feedback related to that possible vision.

9 - 7

Hunter Morrison, NEOSSC’s Executive Director, will provide an update on these latest activities at the meeting.

FINANCIAL IMPACT There is no financial impact related to this meeting’s update.

CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS Using the information gathered throughout this effort, NEOSCC will craft a final visioning framework – Vibrant NEO 2040 – for the twelve-county region, which will be adopted by NEOSCC’s board with the intent of it becoming a resource and guide for local government planning efforts.

9 - 8

Agenda Item No. 10

REPORTS/UPDATES

DATE: DECEMBER 4, 2013

TO: MS. GRACE GALLUCCI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

FROM: VIRGINIA AINSLIE

SUBJECT: DECEMBER REPORT TO THE NOACA BOARD

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This report includes information about:

• Possible Budget Agreement • Revised Senate Infrastructure Bank Bill • FHWA Proposed Primary Freight Network • House and Senate Bills Call for Transferring Most Federal Highway and Transit Programs to the States • U.S. DOT & HUD Release of New Tool To Evaluate Travel and Housing Costs

POSSIBLE BUDGET AGREEMENT

The budget conference has moved behind closed doors since its second public meeting on November 13. There is little official news to report, although there are some indications that Budget Conference Chairs Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) might be close to an $80 billion two-year deal that could end the agonizing fiscal disputes that have tied Congress in knots since the beginning of this session.

Any sequester relief would be evenly split between defense and non-defense programs, although neither would be fully restored to amounts provided before the first round of sequester was imposed in FY 2013.

About $40 billion in additional funding would be allowed for FY 2014 and for FY 2015 in a compromise that would limit discretionary spending to a bit less than $1 trillion each year. Such an agreement would allow FY 2014 appropriations to be enacted before the current continuing resolution expires on January 15.

All deficit reduction already achieved and required by the Budget Control Act would be maintained. Required savings would be derived from alternative cuts and new revenue sources. Items on this short list include lower agricultural subsidies in a compromise farm bill, Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) modifications, reductions in hospital disproportionate share (DSH) payments, aviation passenger fee increases, and/or higher Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premium payments.

10 - 1 Implications of This Agreement for Transportation

The budget deal under discussion now, although it would allow a small increase in discretionary spending for FY 2015, will constrain the amount of general revenue available to bail out the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) in next year’s MAP-21 reauthorization.

What Happens if There isn’t a Budget Agreement?

To avoid another government shutdown in the event no budget agreement is enacted, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) plans to move a second continuing resolution (CR) this month that would extend appropriations past January 15. This bill will limit FY 2014 spending to the Budget Control Act mandated level of $967 billion, including a $20-billion sequester cut to defense. The Senate will dislike this option, but probably will pass it in January if there is no other way to avoid a shutdown.

Congressional Schedule for the Remainder of 2013

Congress is slated to begin its holiday recess December 13, but could stay in session a bit longer if more time is needed to pass a budget deal. The Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) bill might pass before recess, if the conference is completed in time. It looks as if a number of tax extensions will be postponed until next year.

REVISED SENATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK BILL

Senator John Warner (D-VA) and Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) have introduced revised legislation (S. 1716) that will establish an independent fund to provide loans and loan guarantees for large-scale road, bridge, rail, airport, port, water, and energy projects. There is a $50-million threshold for project financing from this infrastructure bank, with a small set-aside for rural projects that cost $10 million or more.

This bill establishes an infrastructure financing authority (IFA) that would receive $10 billion in initial federal funding. After this start-up investment, the IFA is designed to be self-sustaining based on loan fees and repayments without additional federal support.

The new IFA would finance no more than 49 percent of total project costs. Loans and loan guarantees would have maturity terms of as much as 35 years. Selection criteria include a clear public benefit and a dedicated revenue stream to ensure repayment of loans. In an effort to gain Republican support, this new IFA would be independent of other federal agencies. Congress would oversee the agency, but the board and CEO would be appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation.

10 - 2 Both Sen. Warner and Sen. Blunt stressed that their proposal is not intended to replace the Highway Trust Fund. It is designed to supplement HTF funding by providing an alternative financing mechanism for large projects.

Sponsors of this bill hope to get it included in next year’s MAP-21 highway and transit reauthorization.

FHWA PROPOSED PRIMARY FREIGHT NETWORK

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released a proposed 27,000 mile Primary Freight Network (PFN) highway system map. The official FHWA Freight System Designation Notice and proposed map are available online at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/11/19/2013-27520/designation-of-the- primary-freight-network.

Once this highway network is final, it will affect the amount of federal highway funds made available to maintain these roadways. For this reason, it is critical that NOACA review this proposal carefully to be sure all appropriate highway segments in our five- county area are included. Stakeholders, including NOACA, ODOT, and private sector freight interests, have only until December 19 to comment on this draft primary freight network plan.

Urban metro areas are critical to the efficiency of domestic and international supply chains. U.S. DOT recognizes that many highway freight congestion bottlenecks are located in urban areas, and at “first and last mile connectors.” Although federal law provides a mechanism to enable connectivity to essential freight “last mile” origins and destinations in rural areas, MAP-21 National Freight Network (NFN) language in 23 U.S.C. 167(d) lacks a parallel process to ensure such connectivity in urban areas.

Designation of a national freight network is required by MAP-21 to ensure freight and highway funding is invested in projects that achieve national transportation and economic objectives. Urban-area mileage may be included in the NFN only if it qualifies as a PFN roadway or is an Interstate System route. Given the lack of precise national maps, U.S. DOT is requesting information from local, regional, state and private sector entities to help identify critical urban freight routes and highway segments.

As part of this process, U.S. DOT strongly urges MPOs and state departments of transportation to reach out proactively to freight facility owners and operators to get their input on how to improve the draft PFN.

Specifically, FHWA is looking for feedback on:

1. Specific route deletions, additions, or modifications to the draft initial designation of the highway PFN;

10 - 3 2. Methodology used by U.S. DOT for development of a final 27,000-mile PFN designation; 3. Input on how the NFN and its components can be used by stakeholders to improve freight movement efficiency in the future; 4. Input into how the NFN can best support a multimodal National Freight System; 5. Suggestions for an urban-area route designation process.

HOUSE AND SENATE BILLS CALL FOR TRANSFERRING MOST FEDERAL HIGHWAY AND TRANSIT PROGRAMS TO THE STATES

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have introduced companion bills (H.R. 3486 / S. 1702) in the House and Senate known as the Transportation Empowerment Act. This legislation would:

• Transfer almost all authority over federal highway and transit programs to the states over a five-year period; • Lower the federal gas tax to 3.7 cents from 18.4 cents over this five-year time frame; • Provide block grants to states with few federal strings attached during this five- year phase-in period.

Sponsors of this legislation indicate it would improve the rate of return of federal gas and diesel taxes and other user fees to states that now get less back from the HTF than they contribute. Although Ohio was once one of the largest HTF “donor states,” our rate of return has improved from 61 cents per dollar contributed in 1982 to more than 94 cents per dollar contributed by 2007.

Because $53 billion in general revenue has been transferred to the HTF since 2008, however, all states now get substantially more back than they contribute to the HTF in user fees. The average rate of return now is about $1.34. (This calculation does not count taxpayer contributions to general revenue.)

Press releases announcing this legislation indicate it is intended to eliminate “wasteful spending” on Transportation Alternatives projects such as “landscaping and scenic enhancement.” The text of this legislation specifically forbids federal investment in such projects.

Sponsors also claim this approach will reduce red tape and hasten project delivery to such a great extent that commuter travel times will be reduced substantially. Transportation interest groups dispute this assertion.

Funding from the much reduced federal gas tax ultimately would be restricted to maintenance of roads on federal land.

10 - 4 Text of this legislation is available at http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th/senate- bill/1702/text?q={%22search%22:[%22S.%201702%22]}

What Is the Primary Force Behind This Legislation?

The conservative outside interest group Heritage Action played the key role in writing this legislation and is pushing hard to get as many members as possible to cosponsor it.

Consequences of This Legislation

It appears that the MPO process is included as part of the red tape that would be eliminated under this proposal. State departments of transportation would be given much wider authority to determine where HTF funds are invested during the five-year phase-in period.

This proposal will make passage of the MAP-21 reauthorization, as well as any increase in revenue for the HTF, more difficult.

Varying levels of state transportation investment and regulation could complicate interstate truck and passenger travel, and lead to wide disparities in road conditions and safety. Without federal support, transit systems could suffer substantial deterioration because state legislators with greatest seniority often tend to represent rural areas. For this reason, transit is likely to be less well funded by states than it has been by Congress.

Outlook for Congressional Action on This Legislation

This approach is not supported by either Republican or Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate public works committees. These leaders cite the Constitution’s language establishing federal responsibility for transportation under the commerce clause. Nonetheless, the Graves-Lee bills boast a growing list of cosponsors. There are currently 24 House cosponsors for H.R. 3486 (none from Ohio) and 3 Senate cosponsors for S. 1702 (again, none from Ohio).

While these bills are not expected to gain much traction, particularly in the Senate, they offer another opportunity to explain the value of MPO planning directed by local elected officials acting to reach regional consensus about how best to achieve national transportation goals.

What if Federal Transportation Programs are Continued Based Only on Existing User Fees?

This Transportation Empowerment Act legislation, especially if it attracts substantial additional cosponsors, could lead to a situation where existing HTF user fees are extended without any new dedicated revenue or general revenue transfer. This

10 - 5 outcome may be what bill sponsors intend, given that their proposal to turn highway and transit responsibility over to states doesn’t stand much chance of being enacted.

The Congressional Budget Office indicates that, without additional revenue, HTF spending in FY 2015 will be limited to its “available balance.” HTF spending on new highway projects will fall to almost zero next October because most of the HTF highway account balance will be committed to finishing projects already under contract. A similar impact on transit projects is anticipated, although this won’t happen until FY 2016.

As contracted projects are completed and the existing gas tax replenishes HTF and Mass Transit Account balances, federal transportation spending slowly would rise to about half of what has been provided annually in recent years.

10 - 6 SFY 2014 NOACA-ATTRIBUTABLE FUNDED PROJECT MONITORING REPORT (INCLUDES ENHANCEMENT, PLANNING AND TRANSIT RELATED PROJECTS) 11/15/2013

NOACA TOTAL SHARE COST TRAD./ ODOT R # PID NO. COU NOACA ATTRIBUTABLE FUNDED PROJECT SPONSOR (x $1,000) (x $1,000) LPA CONSULTANT AWARD DATE MOST RECENT MILESTONE

LYNDHURST AUDIBLE SIGNALS (INSTALL SIGNALS ON US 322 AT INT. LOCAL TMS ENGINEERS, PROJECT AWARDED 2/18/13. FUNDS ENCUMBERED 1 89708 CUY LYNDHURST 58 73 2/18/13 OF BRINRD, RCHMND & WNCHSTR/IRNE IN LYND) LET INC. 4/1/13.

AUBURN RD (Q & R) (RSRFCE LNS & PAVED SHOULDERS FROM LOCAL PROJECT AWARDED 4/30/13. FUNDS ENCUMBERED 2 93707 GEA GEA CO ENG 280 430 GEA CO ENG 5/24/13 THWING RD TO MENTOR RD IN CHARDON TWP ) GCE LET 6/10/13.

THE OSBORN WATERLOO RD (RECONSTRUCT & ENHANCEMENT E 162ND ST TO E ODOT PROJECT AWARDED 6/6/13. FUNDS ENCUMBERED 3 89032 CUY CLEVELAND 4,265 5,331 ENGINEERING 6/17/13 152ND ST IN CLEVELAND) CLEVELAND LET 6/14/13. COMPANY TRANSFER OF CMAQ FUNDS FROM FHWA TO FTA GCRTA SFY 2014 BUS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (PURCHASE 4 90068 CUY GCRTA 5,000 6,250 NA NA NATV REQUESTED 3/6/13. FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM FHWA REPLACEMENT BUSES) 3RD YEAR OF 4 TO FTA 6/18/13. TRANSFER OF CMAQ FUNDS FROM FHWA TO FTA 5 89612 LAK LAKETRAN SFY 2014 BUS REPLACEMENTS LAKETRAN 2,222 2,778 NA NA NA REQUESTED 4/24/13. FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM FHWA TO FTA 6/20/13. TRANSFER OF CMAQ FUNDS FROM FHWA TO FTA 6 89609 LAK LAKETRAN SFY 2014 PARATRANSIT VEHICLES LAKETRAN 614 767 NA NA NA REQUESTED 4/24/13. FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM FHWA TO FTA 6/20/13.

GRAFTON RD (RESURFACE & WIDEN LANES FROM SR 57 TO CARLISLE LOCAL PROJECT AWARDED 2/18/13. FUNDS ENCUMBERED 7 83095 LOR LOR CO ENG 698 873 LOR CO ENG 6/28/13 NCL IN CARLISLE TWP) LOR CO ENG LET 7/23/13.

LAGRANGE RD (RESURFACE & WIDEN LANES FROM US 20 TO OBERLIN- LOCAL PROJECT AWARDED 5/15/13. FUNDS ENCUMBERED 8 83096 LOR LOR CO ENG 289 361 LOR CO ENG 12/6/13 ELYRIA RD IN CARLISLE TWP) LOR CO ENG LET 7/19/13.

COWLEY RD (CR-59) (RESURFACE & WIDEN LANES FROM CROCKER RD LOCAL ARCADIS G & M OF 9 79842 LOR LOR CO ENG 2,473 3,084 12/13/13 FUNDS ENCUMBERED 8/21/13. TO SR 82 IN EATON TWP) LOR CO ENG LET OHIO, INC

EDDY RD BRIDGE ENHANCEMENT (IR090-22.60/VAR) ENHANCEMENTS ODOT PROJECT AWARDED 9/19/13. FUNDS ENCUMBERED 10 83500 CUY BRATENAHL 58 9,703 BARR & PREVOST 9/23/13 TO BRIDGE OVER IR 90 IN CLEVELAND LET 9/23/13.

SOUTH BELL RD (WEST) (REPAIR & RESURFACE S RUSSELL VLLG WCL TO ODOT C. T.CONSULTANTS PROJECT AWARDED 10/3/13. FUNDS ENCUMBERED 11 90567 GEA RUSSELL 2,402 3,003 10/7/13 EAST OF SR-306 IN S RUSSELL VILLAGE) S RUSSELL LET INC. 10/15/13. VILLAGE

12 90146 CUY GCRTA SFY 2014 ADA PARATRANSIT SERVICE (3RD YEAR OF 4) GCRTA 2,500 3,125 NA NA NA FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM FHWA TO FTA 10/25/13.

GREENWAY TRAIL (ALL PURPOSE TRAIL WEST OF SR 91 BETWEEN MAYFIELD LOCAL URS GREINER 13 89721 CUY 1,067 1,374 12/6/13 FUNDS ENCUMBERED 10/28/13. WILSON MILLS & WHITE RD IN MAYFIELD VILLAGE) VILLAGE LET (COLUMBUS)

CUY CO DEPT BAGLEY RD/PLEASANT VALLEY RD (WDN TO 4 LANES PEARL RD TO LOCAL EUTHENICS; INC. 14 10900 CUY OF PUBLIC 9,795 20,790 5/6/14 FUNDS FOR RW ENCUMBERED 7/5/12. YORK RD MDLBRG HTS, PRM) CCDPW LET (N.SHORE) WORKS CUY CO DEPT HOVANCSEK; BELVOIR BLVD (REPAIR & RESURACE FROM FAIRMOUNT BLVD TO LOCAL BIDS OPENED 10/9/13. APPARENT LOW BIDDER 15 92121 CUY OF PUBLIC 3,022 3,777 STEPHEN AND 12/6/13 MAYFIELD RD IN UNIV. HTS & S EUCLID) DOPWCE LET RECOMMENDED. WORKS ASSOC. CUY CO DEPT CLEVE TOWPATH TRAIL (STAGE 3) RW (STLYRD CMMNS TO IR-490 BAKER & 16 84112 CUY OF PUBLIC 1,000 2,000 LPA 1/1/16 PROGRAMMED IN SFY 2014. (QUIGLEY AVE/W 3RD ST) TRLHD IN CLEVE) CCDOPW ASSOCIATES WORKS

GCRTA ELECTRIC MOTOR CONVERSION PROJECT (2 GCRTA SPECIAL 17 94447 CUY GCRTA 216 270 NA NA NA PROJECT RESCHEDULED FROM SFY 2013. NEEDS VEHICLES & 3 ODOT MAINTENANCE VEHICLES)

10 - 7 NOTE: INFORMATION CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS MONTH ARE REPRESENTED IN ITALICS. SFY 2014 NOACA-ATTRIBUTABLE FUNDED PROJECT MONITORING REPORT (INCLUDES ENHANCEMENT, PLANNING AND TRANSIT RELATED PROJECTS) 11/15/2013

NOACA TOTAL SHARE COST TRAD./ ODOT R # PID NO. COU NOACA ATTRIBUTABLE FUNDED PROJECT SPONSOR (x $1,000) (x $1,000) LPA CONSULTANT AWARD DATE MOST RECENT MILESTONE LOCAL LET P.S.& E. PACKAGE SUBMITTED TO ODOT CUY CO DEPT HIGHLAND RD (FROM EUCLID AVE (US 20) TO RICHMOND RD (SR 175) IN LOCAL DISTRICT 12 OFFICE 8/12/13. RW CERTIFIED BY ODOT 18 91038 CUY OF PUBLIC 4,000 5,000 C.W. COURTNEY CO. 6/2/14 EUCLID, RICHMOND HTS) DOPWCE LET DISTRICT 12 8/16/13. FEDERAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED WORKS 9/18/13.

LARCHMERE BLVD (REHABILITATE FROM MLK JR DR TO NORTH ODOT R.W. ARMSTRONG & 19 89695 CUY CLEVELAND 2,408 3,009 2/3/14 ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT APPROVED 9/6/13. MORELAND BLVD IN CLEVELAND) CLEVELAND LET ASSOCIATES, INC.

MAYFIELD STATION PEDESTRIAN ACCESS ENHANCEMENTS (MAYFIELD TRANSFER OF E/STP-M FUNDS FROM FHWA TO FTA 20 90171 CUY GCRTA 800 1,000 NON-LET GCRTA RD, BTWN. E 117TH ST & E 120TH ST IN U. C.) RTA REQUESTED 7/19/13.

LOCAL LET P.S.& E. PACKAGE SUBMITTED TO ODOT DLZ OHIO, INC. TRISKETT RD / WARREN RD (REPR. & RSRFC. LORAIN RD - W 117TH ST ODOT DISTRICT 12 OFFICE 9/3/13. RW CERTIFIED BY ODOT 21 91034 CUY CLEVELAND 5,650 7,062 DODSON-STILSON; 12/23/13 & WARREN RD - MUNN RD TO LORAIN RD) CLEVE LET DISTRICT 12 9/3/13. PLAN PACKAGE RECEIVED IN ODOT INC. (CLEVELAND) CENTRAL OFFICE 9/16/13.

PROJECT DETERMINED JOINTLY BY FHWA AND FTA TO CLIFTON BLVD TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT (CUY US006-07.64) W END BOWEN; RICHARD L. BE ELIGIBLE FOR CMAQ FUNDING 8/15/13. TRANSFER OF 22 89030 CUY GCRTA 2,390 9,458 LPA 8/23/13 LOOP OF LAKEWOOD TERMINUS TO E END OF SHOREWAY IN CLEVE & ASSOC. INC. CMAQ AND TAP FUNDS AND ODOT URBAN PAVING FUNDS FROM FHWA TO FTA REQUESTED 8/7/13.

CLEVELAND ODOT JONES-STUCKEY PLAN PACKAGE RECEIVED IN ODOT CENTRAL OFFICE 23 91820 CUY IR 77 - 1.75 (VALLEY PARKWAY BRIDGE OVER IR 77 IN BROADVIEW HTS) 240 2,782 11/4/13 METROPARKS LET LTD; INC 7/25/13.

STAGE 3 PLANS SUBMITTED TO ODOT DISTRICT 12 LAKEWOOD SIGNALS (PHASE IV) MADISON AVE - MCKINLEY C. T.CONSULTANTS 9/9/13. PROJECT DETERMINED TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR 24 82796 CUY LAKEWOOD 2,442 3,053 TRAD 5/19/14 AVE/LARCHMONT AVE TO LARK ST/RIDGEWOOD AVE IN LKWD INC. CMAQ FUNDING 9/23/13. STAGE 3 PLANS COMPLETED 10/9/13.

US 42 - 00.00 PH 2 (WIDEN TO 4 LANES FROM DRAKE RD TO SHURMER LOCAL EUTHENICS; INC. PLAN PACKAGE RECEIVED IN ODOT CENTRAL OFFICE 25 88667 CUY STRONGSVILLE 985 9,000 12/27/13 RD IN STRONGSVILLE) LET (N.SHORE) 7/9/13.

CUY CO DEPT US-422-08.88 INTSN. OF US-422, WARR. CNTR. RD, SR-8) & VAN AKEN 26 85207 CUY OF PUBLIC 4,100 9,226 LPA HNTB OHIO; INC. 5/20/14 BIDS DUE 11/15/13. BLVD (SHAKER HTS) CCE WORKS

ENVIRONMENTAL MAPLE HIGHLANDS TRAIL CONNECTION (RW) EASMENT/LAND ACQ. FOR LOCAL FINAL RIGHT-OF-WAY PLANS APPROVED 7/22/13. FUNDS 27 89693 GEA CHARDON 148 185 DESIGN GROUP; INC. 3/31/15 TRAIL FIFTH AVE S TO WATER ST IN CHARDON) LET ENCUMBERED FOR REAL ESTATE SERVICES ON 7/26/13. (SNELL) AUBURN-CRILE RD CNNCTR (RW) AUBURN TO CRILE & MDFY LOCAL STAGE 1 PLANS SUBMITTED TO ODOT DISTRICT 12 28 89046 LAK LAK CO ENG 1,345 2,759 LAK CO ENG 1/1/16 INTRSCTNS. ABRN & SR 44 & ABRN & CRILE (CNCRD TWP) LCE LET 11/13/13. HUBBARD RD (RESURFACING FROM US 20 (N RIDGE RD) TO LAKE RD IN LOCAL 29 93295 LAK LAK CO ENG 1,680 2,100 LAK CO ENG 6/2/14 ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT APPROVED 6/4/12. MADISON TWP) LAKE CO ENG LET JACKSON ST (RESURFACING FROM MENTOR ECL TO PAINESVILLE WCL LOCAL 30 93296 LAK LAK CO ENG 720 900 LAK CO ENG 3/31/14 STAGE 3 PLANS COMPLETED 10/17/13. IN PAINESVILLE TWP) LAKE CO ENG LET

AT ITS 10/18/13 MEETING, THE TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE INCREASED THE TAP FUNDS FOR THE MAIN ST STREETSCAPE (BETWEEN STATE ST AND VETERAN'S PARK IN LOCAL BAKER & 31 89718 LAK PAINESVILLE 715 894 3/28/14 PROJECT FROM $715,000 TO $858,000 PER SPONSOR’S PAINESVILLE) LET ASSOCIATES REQUEST. PROJECT IS OUT TO BID. BID OPENINGS ON 11/21/13.

VROOMAN RD (RW) IR 90 TO SR 84. INCL. BRIDGE OVER GRAND RIVER LOCAL BAKER & STAGE 1 AND STAGE 2 PLANS SUBMITTED TO ODOT 32 5669 LAK LAK CO ENG 75 275 3/31/15 (LEROY TWP, PERRY TWP) LET ASSOCIATES DISTRICT 12 5/21/13. DLZ OHIO, INC. GRISWOLD RD (C) (WIDEN TO 3 LNS & RESURFACE FROM LAKE AVE TO LOCAL 33 79087 LOR LOR CO ENG 3,230 5,375 DODSON-STILSON; 11/1/13 BIDS OPENED 11/7/13. LEONA ST IN ELYRIA TWP& ELYRIA) LET INC. (CLEVELAND) 10 - 8 NOTE: INFORMATION CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS MONTH ARE REPRESENTED IN ITALICS. SFY 2014 NOACA-ATTRIBUTABLE FUNDED PROJECT MONITORING REPORT (INCLUDES ENHANCEMENT, PLANNING AND TRANSIT RELATED PROJECTS) 11/15/2013

NOACA TOTAL SHARE COST TRAD./ ODOT R # PID NO. COU NOACA ATTRIBUTABLE FUNDED PROJECT SPONSOR (x $1,000) (x $1,000) LPA CONSULTANT AWARD DATE MOST RECENT MILESTONE SR-57-9.00 (RECONSTRUCT & ADD TURN LANE FROM CSX RR TO LOCAL POGGEMYER 34 80993 LOR GRAFTON 4,750 6,032 4/4/14 STAGE 3 PLANS COMPLETED 10/8/09. GRAFTON VILLAGE NCL IN GRAFTON) GRAFTON LET DESIGN GROUP (BG)

ENVIRONMENTAL CITY BIKE TRAIL (SHARED USE PATH BEGINNING ON REAGAN PKWY MEDINA PARK LOCAL 35 90271 MED 833 1,049 DESIGN GROUP 3/21/14 STAGE 2 PLANS COMPLETED 7/2/13. AND ENDING ON SR 18 IN MEDINA) DISTRICT LET (AKRON)

RITTMAN RD (CR 233) (RESURFACE FROM EASTERN RD TO SEVILLE RD LOCAL 36 91047 MED MED CO ENG 733 916 MED CO ENG 3/21/14 ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT APPROVED 9/10/13. IN WADSWORTH & WADSWORTH TWP) MCE LET

10 - 9 NOTE: INFORMATION CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS MONTH ARE REPRESENTED IN ITALICS. 10 - 10

NORTHEAST OHIO AREAWIDE COORDINATING AGENCY

MEMORANDUM

TO: NOACA Board of Directors

FROM: Grace Gallucci, Executive Director

DATE: December 6, 2013

RE: Monthly News Digest

ACTION REQUESTED There is no action requested.

BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION FOR CURRENT ACTION The agency has developed a new communications tool to help you stay informed on news about NOACA and its partners. We will be producing a set of news clips to share with the Board. The first set is enclosed.

FINANCIAL IMPACT There is no financial impact.

CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS If you have comments or suggestions about this new service, either about frequency or other aspects, please let me know.

2617r mem 10 - 11

2617r mem 10 - 12 Board of Directors Monthly Headlines

NOACA in the News ODOT got its formula right the first time ...... 2 ODOT’s angst over unspent money penalizes Greater Cleveland: editorial ...... 3 NE Ohio may lose air quality funds in state shuffle ...... 4 NOACA warns that funding change could mean less for air quality and congestion projects in Northeast Ohio ...... 5-6 Lorain Council considers removing 16 traffic lights deemed old, unnecessary ...... 7-8 Sheffield Village looks to more road upgrades ...... 9 Shaker Heights to seek $1 million grant to fund Farnsleigh Road streetscape ...... 10 Broadview Heights wins grants totaling more than $6.5 million for state projects ...... 11-12 County transit seeks money from NOACA ...... 13-14 A new bike-friendly plan for Lorain Avenue is conceptual opposite of bitterly disliked plan for new McDonald’s ...... 15-19

Other News RTA plans to buy 240 natural gas-fueled buses ...... 20-21 Ohio DOT seeks input on Transportation ...... 22 Lake Erie wind project has its first public hearing ...... 23-24 Port of Cleveland seals deal to bring container shipping to the Great Lakes ...... 25-26 Cleveland City Council passes Convention Center Hotel financing plan, after all ...... 27-28 Inner Belt’s Carnegie ramp: ODOT takes new look at whether it can be kept ...... 29-31 Proposal would raise gas tax by 15 cents per gallon ...... 32-33

11-18-2013 through10 - 13 12-4-2013

10 - 14 10 2- 15

ODOT's angst over unspent money penalizes Greater Cleveland: editorial By Editorial Board , on November 19, 2013 at 4:17 PM

The Ohio Department of Transportation recently orchestrated a needless change in the way federal dollars will be applied to transportation projects that improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion across Ohio. The net effect of the new protocol could be to penalize Greater Cleveland. ODOT should reverse itself forthwith.

Instead of money from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program being doled out to regions based on population, it will be parceled out by vote of the eight largest members of the Ohio Association of Regional Councils.

One of those members is the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, which has been accustomed to getting 26 percent of the CMAQ kitty, or about $15 million per year.

Now its share could be significantly less and that has NOACA justifiably calling for a reversal of the new protocol.

Essentially, what the state transportation department has done is to take a system that apportioned money objectively, based on population, and put it in the hands of an unelected, statewide group where horse-trading and other subjective political motivations could dictate how the money is spent.

NOACA says the change jeopardizes more than $34 million in projects planned for several years out, including $10 million to replace Greater Cleveland RTA buses, $6.7 million for the Cleveland Greenway Corridor Trail and $4.6 million to upgrade traffic signals in Parma.

ODOT's rationale for the change stems from unhappiness over some metropolitan planning organizations, NOACA in particular, carrying forward significant sums of state-apportioned money from one year to the next.

NOACA carried forward $30 million in transportation funds, including $5.3 million in CMAQ money, from fiscal year 2013 to fiscal year 2014, but says its balance by the end of fiscal year 2015 will be zero.

ODOT spokesman Steve Faulkner says NOACA may well get its projects funded under the new system. But that's not the point. The money is best allocated by population, not by a popularity vote of metropolitan planning organizations representing Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown, with each region getting one vote.

In the name of fairness, ODOT needs to change the system back to the way it was.

10 3- 16 10 4- 17

NOACA warns that funding change could mean less for air quality and congestion projects in Northeast Ohio

Northeast Ohio's biggest planning agency objects to a new plan for distributing federal dollars earmarked for improving air quality and easing traffic congestion. (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer)

By Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer on November 12, 2013 at 9:45 AM, updated November 12, 2013 at 10:39 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A change in how the Ohio Department of Transportation distributes federal dollars for improving air quality and reducing traffic congestion could mean $34.4 million less for Greater Cleveland, according to the region's largest planning body.

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency said projects that hang in the balance include plans to spend $10 million to replace RTA buses, $4.6 million to upgrade traffic signals in Parma and $6.7 million for Cleveland's Greenway Corridor Trail along the abandoned railroad right-of-way in the Flats. The walking/biking path would run from the Towpath Trail along Irishtown Bend and underneath the Main Avenue Bridge, to a proposed pedestrian bridge over the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks.

The projects are in NOACA's long-range plan, not set to occur until 2018 through 2021. But NOACA already has committed funding to them.

Until recently, ODOT distributed federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality money proportionally by population to Ohio's eight largest metropolitan planning organizations - - groups like NOACA that channel federal transit dollars to local and regional work. Under that approach NOACA was receiving about $15 million a year.

Now, however, all transportation projects in Ohio that are eligible for traffic congestion and air quality dollars will have to compete with each other for a piece of a statewide pie of about $57 million a year. And the decision on where the money will go will be up to the Ohio Association of Regional Councils, an umbrella group that includes NOACA and the seven other metropolitan planning organizations for Ohio's biggest urban areas.

10 5- 18 "It takes the power of local decision making out of the hands of NOACA and places it in the hands of the (eight) largest MPOs," NOACA spokesman Brian Newbacher said Monday. "We feel that's counterproductive."

NOACA's board of directors voted Friday to tell ODOT it objected to the change.

"NOACA urges a reversal of the statewide directive to allow for the continued management of the individual planning agency programs," Executive Director Grace Gallucci said in a statement.

ODOT had asked the state's metropolitan planning organizations to come up with a new blueprint for disbursing the congestion mitigation and air quality money because some of the federal funding was going unspent.

The formula arrived at gives each of the state's biggest MPOs an equal voice in how to divvy up the air quality/congestion pot, even though Greater Cleveland makes up 26 percent of the groups' combined population.

If NOACA doesn't get enough federal money for projects already in the pipeline, it will have to look elsewhere in its budget, which would "significantly reduce the money available" for other road, bridge and multimodal projects, or they might not be funded at all, NOACA said.

Transit agencies in particular have depended on money earmarked for improving air quality and relieving traffic congestion, to pay for replacing aging buses with cleaner-burning vehicles and for building bus lanes and other infrastructure costs -- "particularly since the state provides minimal funding for transit-related initiatives," the NOACA resolution said. "The need for transit investment in the NOACA region is the greatest in the state."

Most Northeast Ohio counties fail to meet the standard for ground-level ozone and small fine particulates, according to a recent report by the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium. The group said ground-level ozone is linked to emissions from industrial and utilities plants, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors and chemical solvents. Fine particulates are attributed to auto, industrial and power plant emissions

Besides the RTA bus replacement, greenway corridor and Parma signal funding, Northeast Ohio projects that could lose air quality/congestion funding under the new system are a $3.5 million LAKETRAN bus program and $388,000 for LAKETRAN's Market Street Park and Ride: and signal improvements in Strongsville ($3.4 million), Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights ($2.7 million), Green Road in South Euclid ($1.6 million), and Pearl Road in Middleburg Heights ($1.5 million).

10 6- 19

Lorain Council considers removing 16 traffic lights deemed old, unnecessary

Filed on November 26, 2013 by Evan Goodenow

LORAIN — A decision is expected in January about whether to remove 16 traffic lights deemed unnecessary in a draft of a study discussed Monday by the City Council’s Streets and Utilities Committee.

A child and an adult cross the intersection of W. 28th St. and Reid Avenue near Garfield Elementary School in Lorain. This traffic light is one of 16 City Council may remove. STEVE MANHEIM/CHRONICLE The report by the Akron-based URS Corp. is the first step in a four-part plan to replace or remove all of Lorain’s antiquated traffic lights by the end of 2018. Lorain has applied to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, a regional environmental and transportation planning group, for federal taxpayer money for new lights. The lights cost $200,000 each and federal money would pay 80 percent of the cost. In addition to removing lights, city officials are considering changing some parallel parking spaces on Broadway to angled spaces which would remove one of the two northbound lanes and slow traffic. Illuminated crosswalks are being considered near the Lorain Palace Theater to protect pedestrians. Safety/Service Director Robert Fowler told committee members the plan’s goals are maximum pedestrian safety, clear sight lines and ample parking. Nonetheless, some residents criticized the report, which cost about $20,000. The lights slated for removal have been in a flashing mode since July or August and resident Pat Blakely said some drivers aren’t stopping for pedestrians at West 28th St. and Reid Avenue. Blakely said children attending Garfield Elementary School are at risk and a red light is needed.

The light at West Sixth and Broadway Avenue also could be removed. “Are you going to wait until a child is in the hospital or in a casket and have your ODOT book there reading to them the rules and regulations?” Blakely asked. “It’s ridiculous. These children cannot get across these streets to go to school.” However, Fowler said the study showed there is not enough traffic at the intersection to justify a light. He said children are being asked to walk less than a block to 30th Street to cross where a crossing guard is stationed in the morning.

10 7- 20 Phil Dore, Fowler’s predecessor as safety/service director, said sight lines need to be improved for drivers turning onto Broadway. He said removing lights could exacerbate dangers for drivers and pedestrians and hurt already struggling Broadway businesses. Fowler said after the meeting that concerns will be considered before a final decision is made. He said the lights at 28th, Broadway and West Fifth Street and Broadway and West Sixth Street may remain. Because the report relies on federal and state guidelines and Lorain is seeking federal money, Fowler said Lorain may be assuming liability for accidents that occur at intersections where lights recommended for removal are left up. “That’s the balance you have to weigh,” he said.

Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or [email protected].

10 8- 21

Sheffield Village looks to more road upgrades

By Jon Wysochanski, The Morning Journal Monday, November 25, 2013

SHEFFIELD VILLAGE — Village Council approved a resolution Monday night authorizing village officials to take the first step toward improvements to East River Road. The resolution authorizes the mayor and village administrator to apply to the Northeast Ohio Area Wide Coordinating Agency for federal funding for improvements to the road between Detroit Road and Colorado Avenue.

Mayor John Hunter said the plan is to resurface the 3.5 mile stretch of road, add paved berms to each side and a 4-foot walking path along the road.

“As we do with all of our projects, we look for funding to do it all,” he said. Hunter said East River Road is heavily traveled both north and south, and at one time it was a state route. He said the road would be widened slightly, although it is already wider than the standard village street.

“By putting a berm on the road, we’ll widen the road by about 4-feet on each side,” he said. “But the road is already wider than a standard street because it used to be state Route 301.” Although an exact project amount is not known at this point, Hunter said he estimates such a project between $1.5 million and $2 million.

“There is a special funding process we have to go through to get money for village thoroughfares,” he said.

The first step in the process is applying for federal funding, then the village will make preliminary engineering designs and finally an estimate of the total cost will be issued, Hunter said. He added that on a project of this nature the village would incur about 20 percent of the total cost of road improvements.

Hunter said improving East River Road is an important step in continuing to maintain all the major roads in Sheffield Village, as has been done in recent years and months with Colorado Ave., and Abbe French Creek and Detroit roads.

“It’s an important thoroughfare in the village,” he said. “It carries a lot of trucks and there are a lot of businesses and residents along there. We need to improve and enhance it as we do with all of our streets, an then we’ll move on to Harris Road and Lake Breeze.”

Hunter said repairing roads is an ongoing process that is smart to begin before roads completely fall apart. He said if funding comes through, the whole process of improving East River Road could take two years.

“You’ve got to start two or three years ahead of time in order to get funding,” he said.

10 9- 22

Shaker Heights to seek $1 million grant to fund Farnsleigh Road streetscape

By Chanda Neely, Northeast Ohio Media Group on November 25, 2013 at 6:24 PM, updated November 26, 2013 at 12:35 PM

Shaker Heights will apply for a $1 million grant from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency to pay for streetscape improvements on Farnsleigh Road in the Van Aken district.File photo

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio –- The city of Shaker Heights will apply for a $1 million grant to pay for streetscape improvements on Farnsleigh Road in the Van Aken district.

City Council will vote on the authorization to apply for the funds from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency at 7 p.m. today.

Reporter Chanda Neely will cover the meeting live in the comments section below.

The streetscape improvements will complement the $18.5 million Chagrin-Van Aken- Warrensville intersection reconfiguration project. The improvements will also support anticipated private sector investments along the street.

1010 - 23

Broadview Heights wins grants totaling more than $6.5 million for state Route 82-Interstate 77 projects

The city of Broadview Heights has been awarded more than $6.5 million in grants for two projects at state Route 82 and Interstate 77. (Bob Sandrick/Northeast Ohio Media Group) By Bob Sandrick, Northeast Ohio Media Group December 03, 2013 at 12:20 PM, updated December 03, 2013 at 12:25 PM

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio – The city will receive more than $6.5 million in grants for two road projects near state Route 82 and Interstate 77.

The grants, from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, will help pay for the widening of 82 west of 77 and the reconfiguration of the 82-77 interchange.

City Council formally accepted the grants Monday night.

The largest grants came for the 82 widening. The city plans to widen a 1.5-stretch of 82 between Ken Mar Industrial Parkway, which is just west of 77, and Broadview Road. The project is scheduled to start in 2019.

A $4.44 million NOACA grant will cover close to half of the 82-widening construction costs, according to a memo from city Engineer Gene Esser.

Part of that grant -- $720,000 -- will help the city buy right-of-way necessary for the project, Esser said.

David Schroedel, the city's economic development director, said the 82-widening project is estimated at $10 million.

Esser said that estimates of the 82-widening project were inaccurately reported in previous articles.

Meanwhile, a $1.08 million ODOT grant will go toward preliminary engineering costs for the widening. The city will chip in $120,000 for engineering, according to Esser.

1011 - 24 The city of Brecksville will also appropriate money for the 82 widening because part of the road is in Brecksville. However, officials in the two cities said the amount is still uncertain.

As for the 82-77 interchange project, which is estimated at $2.6 million, ODOT awarded $528,000 for road resurfacing and Broadview Heights will contribute $132,000 toward that work.

A $457,588 NOACA grant will pay for 80 percent of the cost of new traffic signals. The city will pitch in the other 20 percent.

The city previously received a $1.12 million ODOT grant for preliminary engineering of the interchange project, Schroedel said.

The interchange project will involve changes at three exit ramps from 77 to 82.

At one ramp, cars exiting 77 southbound and heading west now must merge with 82 westbound traffic.

In fact, those cars must quickly jump two lanes to reach the single through lane. That's tricky, especially during rush hours, Schroedel said.

Under the improvement plan, the south-to-west ramp will dead-end at 82. A new stoplight at the bottom of the ramp will control westbound traffic. Cars in the curb lane will turn right on red.

"That will provide gaps in the traffic flow so that cars exiting side streets on 82 (west of 77) will be able to get out," Schroedel said earlier this year.

A similar change is planned at the 77 southbound ramp onto eastbound 82, where cars now navigate a loop and merge with 82 eastbound traffic.

The problem is that cars leaving 77 southbound must weave into 82 eastbound traffic, some of which is trying to move into the right lane and jump onto 77.

The improvement plan will have the southbound loop ramp dead-end at 82 and place a traffic light at the bottom of the ramp.

Finally, the interchange plan will add a traffic light at the bottom of the 77 northbound exit ramp onto 82. Now, there is only a stop sign.

Schroedel said cars are moving so fast that a stop sign does not provide enough safety at that exit ramp.

In addition, the plans calls for a new traffic light at Treeworth Boulevard and 82, in front of the new Giant Eagle.

1012 - 25

County transit seeks money from NOACA

Filed by Dan Pompili December 4th, 2013

Medina County officials are hoping to get additional transportation funding through the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.

The county already has received nearly $470,000 from NOACA for Medina County Public Transit’s 2014 operating budget, including a $46,750 New Freedom grant.

Those funds helped the county make up a funding gap that was created when the Ohio Department of Transportation reclassified Medina County as an urban transit system beginning in 2014.

Urban systems get more federal funding for equipment and facilities but less to subsidize daily operations.

Cutbacks to service from that shortfall include on-demand routes that serve many handicapped residents.

Medina County Commissioner Stephen D. Hambley said NOACA had money left over in its budget and decided to make it available for further transportation funding.

More than $615,000 in New Freedom funds is available during this application cycle.

“We intend on applying for that,” said Hambley, who represents the county at NOACA. “It’s one option we have for the expansion of our ADA route.”

NOACA is accepting applications through Jan. 17 for the New Freedom program. The federal program supports new or expanded public transportation services for individuals with disabilities beyond what is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Those eligible for the grant include private nonprofit organizations, state and local government authorities, and public and private operators of public transportation services in the Cleveland Urbanized Area, which includes most of Cuyahoga County and parts of Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit counties.

“These funds are meant to improve transportation for individuals with disabilities and older adults, including transportation to and from jobs and medical facilities,” NOACA Executive Director Grace Gallucci said. “These are groups that often have significant, unmet transportation needs.”

Hambley said groups like Faith in Action will benefit from any money the county obtains through the New Freedom grant.

Faith in Action is a faith-based charity group that provides volunteer drivers to take immobile patients to medical appointments out of town, using vehicles leased from the county. Hambley said the group is in need of two newer vehicles.

1013 - 26 A map of the eligible areas and the application are available on NOACA’s website, noaca.org/index.aspx?page=151.

An application also may be obtained by calling Meredith Davis at (216) 241-2414, ext. 350, or Kelley Britt at ext. 211. The deadline to submit applications is 4 p.m. Jan. 17.

NOACA’s coordinated plan is available on its website. The agency is a transportation and environmental planning agency that represents state, county, city, village, and township officials. NOACA addresses the transportation, air quality, and water quality needs of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties.

Contact reporter Dan Pompili at (330) 721-4012 or [email protected].

1014 - 27

A new bike-friendly plan for Lorain Avenue is the conceptual opposite of a bitterly disliked plan for a new McDonald's

An image from a new plan for Lorain Avenue shows how the route could be made safer for bikes and transit without adding congestion. (Behnke Associates, Inc., and Michael Baker Corp.)

December 04, 2013 at 7:35 AM, updated December 04, 2013 at 2:51 PM

Lorain Avenue on Cleveland’s West Side is becoming a key battleground over clashing visions of the city’s future.

Does rebooting a shrinking city mean allowing it to cater to automobile-oriented businesses such as a new McDonald’s? Or should Cleveland encourage dense and lively growth around re-emergent retail corridors that once carried streetcars, such as Lorain Avenue?

On the suburban side of the question, developers are fighting for city approval of a controversial and highly unpopular plan to install a McDonald’s on Lorain Avenue at Fulton Road.

Residents hate the idea with a passion. Dozens showed up last month at a City Planning Commission hearing to complain that it would dangerously increase traffic and harm Ohio City’s image as a wellspring of the region’s local food movement. The commission voted 5-0 to block the plan.

The McDonald’s proponents will next go to the Landmarks Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals, which could overturn the planning commission. Barring that, the fast foodies could go to court.

In sharp contrast, a new plan developed by the Ohio City Inc. community development corporation and partners calls for a $17 million makeover of the avenue from West 25th to West 85th streets with a 2.3-mile bicycle track along the north side of the roadway.

1015 - 28 Bicycle tracks, extolled for their safety, are two-way paths separated from vehicular traffic by a standard-height curb or other barrier. More common in cities such as Vancouver, Canada, a bicycle track on Lorain Avenue would be Cleveland’s first.

Today, a typical cross section of the 48-foot-wide right-of-way has four travel lanes, with the outer lanes available for curbside parking except during rush hours.

The plan would replace that configuration with two 13-foot travel lanes separated by a 2-foot curb from a 10-foot-wide, two-way cycle track.

Ten-foot sidewalks would flank the roadway, along with a parking lane on one side. Storefront businesses could be serviced via alleyways that cut behind many buildings.

Environmentally friendly features would include permeable paving for the parking lane and amenity strips with trees on both sides of the street.

The plan shows that switching from four traffic lanes to two would not increase congestion during the morning and evening rush hours.

A community meeting on the plan, devised by the Cleveland landscape architecture firm of Behnke Associates Inc., with engineers from the Cleveland office of Michael Baker Corp., will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Franklin Circle Church, 1688 Fulton Ave.

A second meeting will be held in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood in January, at a time and place to be announced. Those meetings will precede consideration by the City Planning Commission, whose approval is necessary for it to become official city policy.

The theory behind the design is that there's room for the cycle track because Lorain was wide enough to hold a streetcar line earlier in the 20th century without impeding the flow of automobiles. When Cleveland's streetcar era ended, the extra right-of-way was simply turned over to cars.

Using that extra pavement today for bikes would give local residents a free and healthy way to get around. It would also strengthen the in-migration of new residents, particularly Millennials, that has boosted the city’s residential population in certain parts of the city, including downtown and Ohio City.

Anchored by the popular West Side Market at West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue, Ohio City has enjoyed a boom in recent years, fueled by an influx of residents, restaurants, bars and businesses rooted in design and professional services.

The changes are visible up and down the avenue, particularly near West 25th Street:

1016 - 29 - St. Ignatius High School in 2009 opened its $12 million Breen Center for the Performing Arts on the south side of Lorain at West 30th Street.

A variant on the Lorain Avenue proposal to subtract travel lanes for cars and add a cycle track for bicyclists.Behnke Associates, Inc., and Michael Baker Corp.

- MRN Ltd. invested $20 million in a renovation of the historic 10-story United Bank Building at West 25th and Lorain.

- Hansa Import Haus, a German specialty store, restaurant and brewery at Lorain and West 27th, is undergoing a $3 million expansion and renovation.

- JC Beertech Ltd., a company that services draft beer equipment in restaurants and sports facilities throughout the region, is moving to a renovated building nearby on Lorain, bringing 40 employees north from Medina.

- Developer Andrew Brickman last month revealed he is assembling four acres at the edge of Ohio City for 200 new apartments.

These and other signs lead Eric Wobser, Ohio City’s executive director, to see the Lorain Avenue plan as a way to spur urban development in one of the city’s hottest areas of growth.

And with sidewalks buckled by tree roots and crumbling asphalt peeling away to reveal underlying cobblestones, Wobser says the avenue is ready for a makeover.

Moreover, a cycle track on Lorain would connect Ohio City more safely and firmly to downtown, creating economic synergies that would lift both areas.

If anything, the expectation that Lorain Avenue needs to become more bike-friendly has sharply increased because the Ohio Department of Transportation’s recently added bike lanes on the Lorain-Carnegie and Abbey Avenue bridges, Wobser said.

To be truly functional, those routes need to be connected to similar amenities in Ohio City.

1017 - 30 “This corridor [Lorain] is critically important to the region’s future,” he said.

“We view the public infrastructure as a huge key to unite these investments.”

To be fair, the McDonald’s plan and the proposed makeover of Lorain Avenue wouldn’t preclude one another, but they certainly are not in harmony. One is suburbanoid in character, the other decidedly urban.

Wobser would rather see the 0.7-acre McDonald’s site developed with 40 units of housing and with street-level retail shops.

“We’ve got to be denser along our commercial corridors,” he said. “We can’t keep losing sites to single-story, drive-through businesses.”

Unlike the McDonald’s plan, the Lorain Avenue vision enjoys strong support.

“It’s’ one thing to be against something; this is something we’re for,” said Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman of the Lorain Avenue plan.

In addition to Cimperman and Ohio City Inc., the plan’s sponsors include the Detroit- Shoreway Community Development Organization, Councilman Matt Zone, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, St. Ignatius High School, Ohio Savings Bank and the Ohio Finance Fund.

The $80,000 plan is the latest sign of a rising movement aimed at reshaping the city’s roadways, once designed for a city of a million residents, to better serve thriving enclaves where residents prefer to walk, ride a bike or take a bus.

The plan grew out of numerous earlier studies that embody that new-old spirit. These include the city’s new Complete and Green Streets Typologies Plan, which identifies Lorain Avenue as a candidate for bike paths, and a recent transit-oriented development plan for the West 25th Street area coordinated by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

The Lorain Avenue plan would dovetail nicely with the Rotary Club of Cleveland’s proposal to turn a portion of the RTA Red Line right-of-way into a recreational trail, said Tom McNair, Ohio City’s director of economic development and planning.

The Red Line greenway, as it’s called, would intersect twice with Lorain Avenue and would also intersect nearby with the future Lake Link Trail and the Cuyahoga Valley Towpath Trail, making Ohio City a recreational hub.

1018 - 31 McNair and Wobser said the Lorain Avenue plan would also calm traffic – without causing congestion – on stretches that turn into a speedway for suburban commuters during rush hour.

Jacob VanSickle, director of the nonprofit Bike Cleveland, the city’s leading bicycle advocacy organization, points out that the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency ranks Lorain Avenue as a regional hotspot for car-bicycle crashes. A cycle track would enormously improve safety for motorists and bicyclists, he said.

Even so, the Lorain Avenue vision faces big hurdles. The city’s traditionally conservative Division of Traffic Engineering would have to approve it.

Engineer Nancy Lyon Stadler of Michael Baker Corp. said the plan still needs refinement to provide safe ways for cars to turn off the avenue at intersections without causing conflicts with cyclists using the track. Special signals for bicyclists could be an answer.

Wobser hopes that the city will devote $1 million next year from its capital budget to detailed engineering required for construction. After that, the project’s sponsors would need to seek construction money from state and federal sources, and possibly NOACA.

The conceptual work on the plan so far lays a strong foundation for the future of the avenue. It’s also clear that the plan grew out of an organic, local process. In just about every way imaginable, it is the complete antithesis of adding a new drive-through restaurant on a city street where it is clearly not wanted.

1019 - 32

RTA plans to buy 240 natural gas-fueled buses

RTA says the wave of the future is cheaper-to-operate, cleaner-burning natural gas buses. It plans to buy 245 of them by 2018. (Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer)

By Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer Email the author | Follow on Twitter on November 19, 2013 at 12:20 PM, updated November 19, 2013 at 1:44 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- RTA board members voted this morning to start buying natural gas- powered buses, authorizing $28.3 million to purchase the first 60 in 2015.

All told, the agency expects to replace 240 buses in its fleet with buses that use natural gas, staggering the purchases over four years. RTA's fleet currently has 415 buses, all of them running on diesel fuel.

The natural gas buses will cost $472,000 each, higher than the $426,000 price tag for a diesel bus. But the difference will be offset in less than two years by the money saved because natural gas is cheaper and more efficient than diesel, said Frank Polivka, head of procurement for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

The cost of fuel -- the agency's second biggest expense after wages and salaries -- has led in the past to fare increases.

The decision to buy natural gas buses follows an RTA purchase of some natural gas-powered buses in the 1990s. That plan was abandoned after a few years because of unexpectedly high maintenance costs on the vehicles.

1020 - 33 Since then, technology improvements have made natural gas buses much easier and less expensive to maintain.

"We're going from the psychological spot of being on the bleeding edge to the leading edge," RTA General Manager Joseph Calabrese said today.

Polivka said natural gas is abundant and has less price volatility than diesel, besides being cheaper. Diesel currently sells for $3.05 a gallon, and RTA's buses get about two miles per gallon. A gallon equivalent of natural gas today is $1.29, and buses get five to six miles per gallon equivalent.

Besides the savings, natural gas buses are more environmentally friendly, Polivka said. The emit 30 percent less in greenhouse gases and 85 percent less nitrous oxide pollution than diesel buses, he said.

RTA last year tested a non-polluting hydrogen-fueled bus, in a collaboration with NASA Glenn Research Center.

1021 - 34

Ohio DOT Seeks Input on Transportation Posted by Mirna Alfonso (Editor) , November 15, 2013 at 11:26 PM

Ohio Department of Transportation • News Release DIVISION OF COMMUNICATIONS 1980 West Broad Street • Columbus, Ohio 43223 www.transportation.ohio.gov

ODOT Seeking Public Comment on Transportation Plan

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) hereby notifies all interested persons that a draft long range transportation plan called Access Ohio 2040, an update to Ohio’s long-range transportation plan, is available for review and comment.

Access Ohio 2040 is a vision for Ohio’s future transportation system that includes 11 recommendations which will guide, inform, and support ODOT’s policies and investment strategies in the coming years.

You may provide your comments at www.accessohio2040.com or by visiting one of the locations identified below.

Comments concerning Access Ohio 2040 may be submitted through the above website, by e- mail or by mail:

Jennifer Townley Division of Planning Attn: Charles Dyer Ohio Department of Transportation Mail Stop #3280 1980 West Broad Street Columbus, OH 43223

Written comments must be received by the close of business on January 15, 2014.

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Lake Erie wind project has its first public hearing

By John Funk, The Plain Dealer on November 22, 2013 at 6:00 AM, updated November 22, 2013 at 6:04 AM

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) in May 2013 analyzed samples of the Lake Erie lake bed where the nonprofit company plans to build six 3-megawat wind turbines in 2016. LEEDCo used this 90-food jack-up barge to perform pressure tests and to extract the soil samples.Howard Tucker, Grossi Public Relations

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The first official public airing of the project to build a pilot wind farm on Lake Erie proved it won't all be smooth sailing.

Nearly 50 people - many with critical questions - attended the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp.'s state-mandated public meeting late Thursday afternoon at the Cleveland Public Library. The Ohio Power Siting Board, which must approve the project, called the meeting.

They lobbed more than 30 questions at David Karpinski, LEEDCo vice president, repeatedly interrupting his 45-minute presentation, turning the event into a two-hour dialogue.

LEEDCo wants to build 6 turbines, each generating 3 megawatts (3 million watts) on a site seven miles northwest of downtown. The power would be transmitted in a buried cable to Cleveland Public Power's substation on North Marginal Road near Burke Lakefront Airport.

Karpinski tried to wrap up the last nine years of the project's history, starting with the Cleveland Foundation's funding and a Cuyahoga County task force, ending with LEEDCo's current $4.6 million in federal funding, its partnership with a group of experienced European engineering firms and its drive now to land a large federal grant next year.

His audience's questions ranged from benign to thoughtful - to sharply critical.

1023 - 36 Thomas Sullivan of Bay Village challenged the cost of the project -- $127.2 million, about $80 million of which would have to be raised from European banks, assuming LEEDCo wins a $46.7 million competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

LEEDCo is one of seven offshore projects competing for funding. The DOE intends to make three awards.

Karpinski and David Nash, an environmental attorney with McMahon DeGulis, LLP and a LEEDCo consultant, argued the small project's purpose is not only to prove it can be done in freshwater but also to develop the engineering expertise to make future projects less costly.

Sullivan worried that the project would contaminate the quality of the lake water and that it would kills birds and fish. Nash's counter to that amorphous concern was that the turbines would displace coal-fired power plants, which spew mercury into the air and ultimately the water.

Willoughby resident Leslie Lloyd, an environmental scientist, questioned the impact of laying the power cable from the turbines to the shore, especially the plan to drill horizontally under the breakwall to reach the city substation.

Lloyd, joined by birder Donna Kayne Owen of Lyndhurst, questioned a just-released study done by a consultant for LEEDCo that concluded the turbines would not have a significant impact on bird populations.

Owen and Lloyd wanted to know how the data for the study - radar records and acoustic recordings -- had been collected, whether data had been collected at night when birds migrate, and whether data had been backed up with observations.

Nash said the radar and acoustic data had been collected 24 hours a day, seven days a week during migration season. Observers in boats patrolled the site but only during the day, he said.

Some wondered whether the project would be endangered by the the battle in Columbus over renewable energy requirements.

One man wondered whether climate change would make the winds over the lake stronger and the turbines more productive. The theory, said Karpinski, is that wind will become more volatile.

Still another man, a supporter, worried about unintended consequences, things that maybe LEEDCO had not even thought of.

"We are doing a very small project to learn about the risks," said Nash "We are sacrificing financial sustainability to gain environmental sustainability."

1024 - 37

Port of Cleveland seals deal to bring container shipping to the Great Lakes

Sailing to Cleveland Bart Peters, a Dutch shipping executive, sees a new era for his company via the Port of Cleveland.

By Robert L. Smith, The Plain Dealer on November 21, 2013 at 2:26 PM, updated November 21, 2013 at 5:05 PM

Here come the Dutch.

The board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority today approved an agreement with a Dutch shipping giant that will commence an era of cargo runs between Cleveland and northern Europe.

The Cleveland-Europe Express will become the first regularly scheduled container service on the Great Lakes upon its maiden voygage in March, when the Saint Lawrence Seaway opens for a new season.

Dutch shipping executives were at the board meeting at the Aloft hotel in the Flats to witness the historic vote and to see their new port of call.

International ships will become a more common sight at the Port of Cleveland when trans- Atlantic container service begins in March. The WICKO, a Bahama-flagged vessel with a Polish crew, called in May 2012.Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer

Bart Peters, director of the Atlantic Ocean department of the Spliethoff Group of Amsterdam, the Netherland's largest shipper, said his company has for years eyed the Great Lakes and the potential of the Seaway. He said the partnership with the Port of Cleveland will enable it to reach Midwestern markets more directly than any other world shipper.

"We are feeling a bit like a kid in a candy store," he said in conference rooms with window views of the lakefront. "This lake is empty, while you have the Heartland of America right here at your doorstep. We will open this city to the world."

Plans call for Seaway-class Dutch container ships to make monthly sails, initially, between Cleveland and Antwerp, Belgium. Traffic could increase to two ships monthly if the port nears its goal of capturing 10 to 15 percent of Ohio goods now exported through East Coast ports.

The port hopes to gain that trade by offering a faster, cheaper, greener route to Europe, in part, by allowing manufacturers to avoid moving goods to the coast by truck and rail.

1025 - 38 With an agreement signed, port officials can now start quoting rates to shippers and their agents. Those first customers may take some time signing up.

Both Peters and port officials acknowledged many will be leery of changing established and trusty shipping patterns.

"Nobody wants to be the first," and risk their cargo getting stuck somewhere, Peters said.

His company pioneered a similar cargo service between Belgium and Spain, he said, and it took about two years for that route to become profitable. Peters said he expects a similar growth trajectory for the Cleveland-Europe Express.

According to the agreement, the port authority will lease ships from the Spliethoff Group, which will staff and sail the vessels. The port will also pay fuel costs, pushing its outlay close to $850,000 monthly.

Revenues are expected to grow to cover an increasing portion of expenses and the port projects breaking even by the end of the first season.

"We realized this was a risk going into this," said port chairman Marc Krantz. "Frankly, we see the greater risk not going ahead."

The new link to Europe will help Ohio manufacturers compete in the global economy, grow their businesses and maybe create jobs, Krantz said. By not acting, he said, the port would fail to leverage its ability to connect local companies to world markets.

Port officials envision Cleveland becoming a cargo hub for Midwest manufacturers far and wide.

They project hundreds of new jobs in and around the docks and a more robust regional economy.

Peters described the port's venture as brave but smart. Cleveland is the first major port on the Great Lakes for ships traversing the Seaway, he noted. Its docks are connected to major rail lines that run coast to coast.

The main obstacle to ocean shipping via the Great Lakes has long been the Seaway locks, which are too small for the huge container ships that carry world trade. That's why most of the ships calling on the Port of Cleveland are lakers moving bulk cargo around the lakes.

The Spliethoff Group has been investing in new, Seaway-sized freighters that can carry an array of goods, from potatoes to steel, Peters said. The Port of Cleveland offers a chance to put them to pioneering use.

This spring, he said, Clevelanders will see a new sight in their harbor: an ocean freighter with shipping containers stacked high on deck.

"It's a great, wide-open area here to get us into the Heartland of America," he said. "We see the potential."

1026 - 39

Cleveland City Council passes Convention Center Hotel financing plan, after all By Leila Atassi, Northeast Ohio Media Group Email the author | Follow on Twitter on December 02, 2013 at 8:30 PM, updated December 03, 2013 at 7:31 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland City Council passed legislation Monday authorizing the city to play a role in financing the Cleveland Convention Center Hotel.

Council had planned on tabling the legislation until January, concerned that it did not guarantee adequate parking for guests at the 600-room hotel. The ordinance hit a snag after some members requested that it be amended to promise hotel guests access to a nearby lot.

The issue resolved just before the council meeting Monday night, when council members were told that the adjacent Huntington garage would be dedicated to the use of hotel guests. The garage served employees at the county's old administrative building, which until recently, stood on the site of the proposed hotel.

The city’s commitments to the county’s project includes authorizing “non-school” tax increment financing for a 30-year term, dedicating the bed tax the city receives from the hotel to support the project financing and allocating $8 million in city-issued bonds toward construction costs.

The city also agrees to play the middle-man in the transfer of the property from the county to the Port Authority, because under state law, neither the city nor county is permitted to own a hotel. Under the agreement, the port will lease the property back to the county.

Consultants and architects in recent weeks presented to council members the renderings for the hotel, which will feature 600 rooms in a 27-story tower above a four-story podium.

The public areas will include a restaurant, a lobby bar and lounge, retail space and, possibly, a green roof on the lower-slung part of the building and some sort of public space atop the hotel. Plans include 55,000 square feet of meeting space.

1027 - 40 The city's participation also has the potential to revive a plan to build a pedestrian bridge connecting the downtown Mall to the lakefront. In September, Cleveland's application for $17.6 million in federal grant money to help pay for the bridge was rejected. In exchange for agreeing to the hotel financing plan, however, the county has pledged $10 million toward that project, if the city can come up with the rest of money.

1028 - 41

Inner Belt's Carnegie ramp: ODOT takes new look at whether it can be kept

ODOT seeing if the Carnegie ramp exit off Interstate 90 East into the Midtown district, now slated for permanent closure as part of the Inner Belt reconstruction, can be kept open. (Ohio Department of Transportation)

Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer Email the author | Follow on Twitter on December 03, 2013 at 8:00 AM, updated December 03, 2013 at 11:26 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Plans to close the Carnegie Avenue exit ramp off Interstate 90 as part of a multibillion makeover of the Inner Belt are getting a second look from the Ohio Department of Transportation.

An ODOT engineering team is studying whether it's feasible to keep the ramp open, a move that Midtown community leaders say would make a big difference in the vitality of their business district.

"If we can maintain direct access at Carnegie, we think that would go a long way toward a solution," said Jim Haviland, executive director of MidTown Cleveland Inc., a nonprofit development group.

"It's nice to see that back on the table," Midtown businessman Donald Scipione said of ODOT's renewed investigation into Carnegie ramp options. "That was a community compromise from a long time ago."

Faced with the possibility of losing both the Carnegie and Prospect exits -- two key jumpoff points into their commercial and residential zone -- MidTown Cleveland and Scipione's business, Acme Express, sued ODOT, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration over the plan in 2010.

An economic impact study was commissioned to resolve the lawsuit. A draft version of its findings was released in November. It said that while Midtown would continue to grow and add jobs regardless of what happened to the ramps, it would add 2,300 fewer jobs if they closed, according to the study's snapshot of the region in 2035. That translated into $211 million less in economic activity in the final year of the study, which looked out over 22 years.

1029 - 42 ODOT's total Inner Belt plan covers nearly 3½ miles and calls for two new bridges, rebuilding portions of Interstates 71, 77 and 90 into downtown Cleveland and straightening Dead Man's Curve. The section of the project involving the ramps at Carnegie and Prospect is expected to occur in about 15 years. It is not yet funded.

Myron Pakush, deputy director for ODOT District 12, said ODOT's decision to re-examine whether it can keep a Carnegie ramp stems not from the economic report so much as feedback from Midtown businesses.

"What's driving us in looking at solutions is listening to the community," Pakush said during a meeting at the agency's district headquarters in Garfield Heights. "Right now we're talking about finding solutions to Carnegie."

ODOT says the closure of the Prospect ramp is a certainty. And Pakush cautioned that engineers haven't yet figured out whether a Carnegie ramp is doable.

As it stands, I-90 eastbound motorists are already cut off from the Carnegie exit. ODOT closed it in the summer to prevent drivers from cutting across two lanes of traffic that are now pouring onto I-90 East from I-77 North, because of traffic pattern changes tied to the Inner Belt project.

"It is not possible for motorists to safely make the weave motion to exit at the ramp in its current placement," Inner Belt spokeswoman Jocelynn Clemings said. "The spacing between the ramps in the area is too tight and it is simply unsafe."

That means that keeping a Carnegie exit would mean relocating it. And that poses an engineering puzzle: Two historic buildings stand like bookends in the near vicinity of where a new Carnegie ramp would likely go.

What alternate route would you use if the ramp closed? Share your comment below.

The 1927 Walker and Weeks building is listed on the National Historical Building Registry, and the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center has been designated a landmark by Cleveland and is considered eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

In a separate meeting between ODOT officials and neighborhood leaders last week, ODOT said one solution could involve moving the ramp about 100 to 200 feet north of its current location, said Bobbi Reichtell, executive director of Campus District Inc., who was at the meeting.

That option -- one of several that ODOT discussed, Reichtell said -- also included a "cap" or "flyover" over the highway at East 22nd Street. That's on the wish list of the Campus District, part of the community development corporation's goal to make East 22nd a vibrant corridor connecting Cleveland State University and southern parts of the district.

"I don't want to get too excited, because they still have to, engineering-wise, figure out which one of these options is feasible," Reichtell said.

Pakush said ODOT was at the preliminary "Magic Marker" stage of sketching out Carnegie ramp possibilities. But he suggested that the priorities of Midtown and the Campus District could be addressed in tandem.

1030 - 43 "There might be a solution that fits both," he said.

Consultants D.B. Hartt Inc. and Silverlode Consulting Corp. are to release their finalized economic impact study on the ramps this week. ODOT said it will have a decision on the Carnegie exit by the end of December.

1031 - 44

Proposal would raise gas tax by 15 cents per gallon

WASHINGTON — With Congress facing a major shortfall in transportation funding next year, a House bill introduced yesterday would raise the federal gas tax by 15 cents per gallon to close the gap.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., announced the proposed increase at a news conference, flanked by an array of labor, construction and business leaders. It would raise the federal tax on gas to 33.4 cents per gallon and on diesel to 42.8 cents.

“Every credible, independent report indicates that we are not meeting the demands of our stressed and decaying infrastructure system — roads, bridges and transit,” Blumenauer said.

The tax has not been increased since 1993, and the Highway Trust Fund into which the revenue flows has suffered because the tax has not kept pace with inflation. Better car mileage also has reduced fuel consumption.

The trust fund no longer draws enough money to pay for the nation’s highway and transit bills. Though states levy their own gas taxes — the average combined gas-tax was 30.4 cents per gallon at the start of the year — they count on Washington for about half of their transportation funding.

To fund the current federal transportation bill, which expires next year, Congress transferred more than $50 billion from general tax revenues.

Blumenauer cited estimates that the trust fund will need $15 billion more each year if Congress decides to keep funding at current levels when it considers a new long-term surface transportation bill in 2014. He said that phasing in a 15-cent per gallon tax over three years would raise about $170 billion in the next decade.

Doing nothing to bolster the trust fund is not a viable option unless Congress is prepared to slash transportation funding, transfer the tax burden to the states or agree to a massive transfer of money from general tax revenue.

1032 - 45 The American Society of Civil Engineers concluded last month that a $2.7 trillion investment in transportation and other infrastructure is needed by 2020 if the United States is to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Three years ago, the Federal Highway Administration estimated that more than $70.9 billion worth of repairs were needed to maintain safe infrastructure.

On the Senate side, Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who leads the public-works committee, has proposed levying a tax on fuel at the wholesale level, collecting money at the refinery rather than the pump.

1033 - 46