Wade Park Avenue is in for a traffic makeover. The city is gearing up for an $11 to $12 million safety overhaul that will repave the roughly two-mile corridor, swap out several traffic signals for mini-roundabouts, and turn parking lanes into protected bike lanes. The goal is to slow down speeding drivers, cut down on intersection crashes, and plug Wade Park into Cleveland’s growing bikeway network between East 66th Street and East 118th Street. Design work is expected to run through 2026, with construction slated to start in spring 2027 and wrap up in 2028.
According to the City of Cleveland's project fact sheet, the plan calls for resurfacing Wade Park Avenue from East 66th to East 118th, upgrading curb ramps, and adding street trees while narrowing vehicle lanes to make space for separated bike lanes. The fact sheet pegs the budget at about $11 to $12 million and lays out a schedule with design through fall 2026 and construction beginning in spring 2027. It also notes that the corridor has a high share of intersection crashes, with the project team saying more than 75% of crashes there occur at intersections. That is why several signals are being reviewed for conversion to roundabouts or stop controls; see the full fact sheet from the City of Cleveland.
City staff and consultants walked neighbors through the concept at a Ward 8 meeting. Presenters included Richard Switalski of the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects, GPD project manager David Neumeyer, and Vision Zero coordinator Cameron Roberts. They explained that the funding is stitched together from a mix of federal and state grants and local bonds: about $4.6 million from NOACA, $3.3 million from ODOT safety funds, approximately $3.4 million from the Ohio Public Works Commission, and less than $1 million from city road-and-bridge bonds. Those meeting details and the funding breakdown were reported by Signal Cleveland.
Intersections, roundabouts and signals
The draft design would keep traffic signals at major crossings such as Wade Park at East 79th Street, East Boulevard, and East 105th Street. At several smaller intersections, signals would come down and be replaced with stop signs or mini-roundabouts. The mini-roundabouts are proposed for Giddings Road, East 82nd Street, Ansel Road, the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard ramps, East 108th Street, and East 115th Street. New stop-control configurations are planned at East 66th, Russell/East 70th, Addison, East 86th, East 91st, and Crawford.
The plan also calls for removing a short stretch of Ansel Road to make way for new green space and curb extensions that are intended to create safer crossings, according to the city’s project page from the City of Cleveland.
Why planners think it will work
At the Ward 8 meeting, planners pointed to recent traffic-calming changes on Franklin Boulevard as a local proof of concept. Officials said total crashes there fell about 76%, injury crashes dropped 69%, and the share of drivers exceeding 25 miles per hour plunged from 63% to 17% after similar measures were installed. Those numbers were highlighted by Vision Zero coordinator Cameron Roberts in the meeting notes, as reported by Signal Cleveland.
National research backs up the strategy as well. The Federal Highway Administration finds that replacing traffic signals with roundabouts can reduce fatal and injury crashes by roughly 78% at signalized intersections, according to the FHWA.
What’s next
Design work will continue through 2026 while the city fine-tunes staging and engineering details. Contractor bids are expected in spring 2027, and construction will roll out in phases so crews can keep traffic moving and maintain access to schools and other neighborhood destinations. The project team says the corridor will be rebuilt in three sections to limit disruption, with new crosswalks, curb extensions, and planting strips added as part of the overhaul.
Neighbors who want to follow the progress can check the city’s Wade Park Avenue project page or contact their ward office for upcoming meeting schedules and sign-up information.
