It’s one of the main pathways to get to the pride and joy of Downtown Cleveland — the condition of one sidewalk just steps away from Public Square is creating concern.
Those who navigate the city on foot are getting fed up. They say not only is the stretch of West Superior Avenue an eyesore, it’s also safety hazard.
Large chunks of the sidewalk are missing, and people say it has been like this for more than a year.
“There’s been quite a few people coming and complaining about that sidewalk over there,” said Michael, a street vendor downtown.
Michael, who spends a lot of time on this corner, is one of them.
“I myself have tripped over the cracks, and it needs to be fixed. It’s been needing to be fixed for years now,” Michael added.
At first glance, they look like Cleveland’s notorious potholes.
“This stretch is particularly bad. There’s a lot of cracks that are pretty deep,” Rebecca Horsman said.
But the giant craters run right down the middle of the sidewalk along West Superior Ave.
“Can’t get much worse than this,” Horsman said.
Horsman said they’re not only unsightly, they’re putting pedestrians like her at risk.
“It’s going to be a safety issue if it’s not fixed soon,” Horsman said.
Horsman doesn’t understand why the City of Cleveland isn’t taking quicker action to address this problem.
“It’s a high traffic area in the heart of downtown. There’s people who work here, people who live here, visitors,” Horsman said.
The craters are creating some tricky travel conditions for those who rely on the RTA.
“There’s a lot of people that walk back and forth to these bus stops. I’ve seen people take nasty falls,” Michael said.
The shattered sidewalk sits just steps from Cleveland’s crown jewel — Public Square.
“I really think they should invest money into the sidewalks, safety first, then build a new park,” Michael said.
The City of Cleveland said the sidewalk will be inspected next month when crews check out the parking lot that runs along it.
