CLEVELAND — After years of back and forth between the City of Cleveland and business owners, Market Avenue is permanently closed to cars in Ohio City.
It's a beautiful Friday night in Cleveland, a perfect kick-off to a long holiday weekend. Julia Berkman Sieck jumped for joy when she saw what happened today on Market Avenue.
“I honestly didn’t even know they were working on it until I saw the notification that it had happened," said Berkman Sieck, who lives in Ohio City.
The street, now transformed into a community space, is special to Berkman Sieck.
“We actually got our wedding photos here, and there’s a photo of us crossing the street going from the wine bar over to Great Lakes. Yes, this place is very special to me, and I absolutely will spend more time here," Berkman Sieck said.
People walking their dogs, families heading to dinner, folks enjoying a drink on their patio, now, not worried about cars whizzing by.
“It’s not a good street for driving. It’s not; it’s narrow, it’s highly trafficked by pedestrians, and the sidewalks aren’t super friendly for people with strollers, or wheelchairs, or bikes. So, this just gives everybody more space and more accessibility to it," Berkman Sieck said.
Cleveland City Councilman Kelly McCormack, Ward 3, said his phone at city hall has been ringing off the hook for weeks about the project.
“The calls were, 'when are you going to get this done?' not 'should we.' All these restaurants behind me, as you can see, they’re packed, their patios are packed," McCormack said.
Anyone can relax on the street in a chair or a table, but this area is not yet a designated outdoor refreshment area or a DORA. The City said it's looking into those plans next.
"We want neighborhood buy-in. Buy-in from our restaurants and bars, but also the community," McCormack said.
Connected to the street is Market Square Park. The park has had some known safety issues. In 2021, two men were shot in the park, one of them died.
“We actually met this week with Cleveland Police Department on an effort to really make sure there’s a lot of coverage in the area. So, CPD is actually committing additional resources to this area to make sure that everyone that’s here is safe and having a good time. Starting actually next week, there’s going to be increased presence in the area to make sure that everyone is having a good time," McCormack said.
More furniture is being painted by the city right now. In the future, McCormack foresees families playing street games, listening to live music, and a whole lot more connection in Ohio City for friends and neighbors.
“I think this is an obvious space that everybody comes to any way, so it’s natural for people to gather here," Berkman Sieck said.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
