Cleveland seeks consultant for 2.8-mile East 55th Street safety and mobility rebuild
Cleveland has sought a consultant for a planned 2.8-mile safety and mobility redesign of East 55th Street, a project that would change the street’s layout with a two-way center turn lane, separated bike lanes and upgraded crossings.
The city’s Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects issued a request for qualifications/proposals for the East 55th Street Safe Routes to School Quick Build project. Proposals were due July 29, 2026, at noon.
The solicitation is a consultant procurement step, not a construction award. The available city materials do not identify a selected consultant, a construction start date, a project cost or a final construction schedule.
Corridor limits and planned street changes
The project area runs along East 55th Street from Outhwaite Avenue to North Marginal Road. The city describes the corridor as 2.8 miles long.
One portion is excluded: the 0.3-mile State Route 283 segment between Superior Avenue and St. Clair Avenue is outside the project limits.
Under the proposed design, roadway space would be reallocated for a two-way center turn lane and separated bicycle lanes. The changes are proposed rather than built, and the solicitation does not establish when the new configuration would be installed.
Crossings, transit access and safety goals
The city’s request outlines a set of pedestrian and transit-access improvements along the corridor. They include ladder-style crosswalks, new crosswalks where needed, and either rectangular rapid-flashing beacons or pedestrian hybrid beacons at crossings.
The plan also calls for concrete landing pads at bus stops. Together with the bicycle facilities and crossing treatments, the project is intended to improve access to schools and transit on an arterial route that connects the Outhwaite Avenue and North Marginal Road areas.
City materials link the work to Cleveland’s Vision Zero goals, which focus the project on safety treatments intended to reduce serious crashes. The solicitation does not promise a particular crash-reduction result.
What remains unresolved
The Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects is the city office named in the solicitation, with the Division of Engineering and Construction also identified among the project entities. The city’s announcements page says Cleveland was carrying out resurfacing and infrastructure work during summer 2026, but the available information does not specify closures, detours, transit-service changes or other construction disruptions for East 55th Street.
Because the RFP did not provide funding sources, a construction cost or a final timetable, those details remain to be established after the consultant procurement process. The next known milestone in the available record was the July 29 proposal deadline.
Sources
- Request for Qualifications/Proposal: E. 55th Street Safe Routes to School Quick Build, City of Cleveland
- Cleveland traffic and infrastructure announcements, City of Cleveland