CLEVELAND, Ohio - An unfamiliar sight greeted those traveling by Public Square this morning.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and the City of Cleveland were testing running buses through the square. 

They were evaluating lingering safety and security issues that remain before the square can be reopened. All buses running on Superior Avenue through the square were out of service during the testing. 

"It's another step in the process," said Dan Williams, the city's media relations director. "We have to figure out what we can do, what will work." 

RTA officials could not be reached Monday for comment on the test runs.

The city and RTA are reviewing the traffic and safety studies that have been completed on the square and are working to put into place safety and security measures that address concerns outlined in the studies, RTA CEO Joe Calabrese explained last week in a letter to the Federal Transit Administration. 

To improve pedestrian safety:  

• The city and RTA will develop and implement a plan to enforce bus-only traffic through the square and to deter jaywalking.
• The city would add double yellow and white lane markings to Superior Avenue through the square.
• The city would add more pedestrian crossing signs.
• A temporary, removable railing system to channel pedestrians to crosswalks would be designed and built.
• RTA would need to provide training to all bus operators.
• The city would need to improve ADA-compliant pavement markings.
• The city and RTA will need to coordinate the street's reopening with special event organizers.

The city and RTA also are developing a plan to increase security on Superior Avenue, Calabrese said at the time.

The Federal Transit Administration will give RTA until March 7 to allow buses on Superior Avenue through the square before it will enforce a $12-million fee.

When asked if two weeks will be enough time to make all necessary safety and security changes to the square, the city's Williams said, "We'll see." 

"We've been in this process since August. We thought it would be done by now, and it's not," Williams said. 

What's been happening

Public Square has been closed to buses since early 2015 while the square was under renovation. However, it was scheduled to reopen Aug. 1, 2016.

At that time, Mayor Frank Jackson chose to ban buses in favor of a unified Public Square. Jackson has said he would reopen the square to bus traffic if there were no way to keep it closed without harming RTA's operations or bottom line, and if RTA addresses the city's safety concerns.

RTA is on the clock from the FTA to either reopen Superior Avenue through the square to buses or to repay $12 million in federal grants it received for the the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project. 

Because the city will not permit buses to cross Public Square, RTA is not upholding its end of the funding deal it made for the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project, the FTA asserts. The Euclid Corridor Transportation Project established the HealthLine, which runs down Euclid Avenue and ends in Public Square.

Jackson has said RTA has not been acting in good faith about Public Square and, ultimately, has slowed down the process of reopening the square.

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