Southern Moreland Traffic Calming

Three traffic calming installations — bump outs — were installed in the Moreland neighborhood, including this one in front of Chelton Park on Chelton Rd.
Bump outs narrow the roadway so that motorists must slow down or even stop. This is one of two bump outs on Scottsdale Blvd.
Another bump out on Scottsdale Blvd.
Thanks to a NEORSD grant, several of the bump outs are bioretention basins
Residents and city planners discuss area traffic issues, including traffic speed and volume.
Residents and City Economic Development and Planning staff discuss solutions to neighborhood traffic concerns.
Residents and City staff observe a temporary traffic calming demonstration on Chelton Road.
A resident and city planner observe and discuss area traffic
A pedestrian and cyclists travel along Scottsdale Boulevard.
A resident and city planner discuss traffic along Scottsdale Boulevard.

The Southern Moreland Traffic Calming Project was completed in 2023.

Background

In May 2021, to slow traffic throughout the southern Moreland neighborhood, 63 trees were planted with a $30,000 grant from Boise Paper/Arbor Day Foundation. In September 2022, in conjunction with Scottsdale Boulevard repaving (Lee to the western City border), three traffic calming installations were constructed: 1) Scottsdale Boulevard east of Pennington; 2) Scottsdale Boulevard west of Sudbury; and 3) Chelton Road near the entrance to Chelton Park.

The traffic calming interventions were designed with the guidance of neighborhood residents in a process that took over a year. The design/engineering phase included two neighborhood meetings to assess multiple traffic calming treatments and determine the appropriate combination of improvements that provide the best results; the final project included bump-outs/chokers with grass and landscaping, trees, and high-visibility signage.

Implementation funding was received from multiple sources:

$289,500 City funding
$221,389 Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s Green Infrastructure Grant
$30,000 Arbor Day/Boise Paper tree planting grant
$50,000 Cuyahoga County CDSG funds

Pre-Existing Conditions

Due to its physical location and adjacency to high-traffic commercial roads, the Moreland neighborhood has endured speeding vehicles, excessive traffic volume, and cut-through traffic for over 20 years.

High traffic volume and speed are primarily experienced on two streets: Scottsdale Boulevard and Chelton Road. Both residential streets are popular cut-through routes to avoid Chagrin Boulevard, especially during rush hour. Scottsdale Boulevard experiences over 1500 cars per day and Chelton Road experiences over 600 cars per day.

When Chagrin eastbound is busy near Lee, drivers turn south on Chelton, then east on Scottsdale to get to Lee and travel southbound, thus cutting through the neighborhood and simultaneously avoiding multiple traffic signals (see traffic diagram).

Project Overview

In 2022, the City of Shaker Heights installed traffic calming measures in the southern Moreland neighborhood that will address environmental inequities and positively impact residents by slowing automobiles, deterring cut-through traffic, improving pedestrian/bicyclist safety, reducing noise, decreasing stormwater run-off in a combined-sewer overflow area, providing opportunities for tree planting, mitigating the urban heat island effect, enhancing aesthetics, and improving the overall quality of life.

Resident involvement in this project was significant and continued throughout the duration of the project. The project originated from residents who began discussing traffic and pedestrian safety in summer 2020. Residents conducted traffic counts and met regularly to discuss their observations. City speed data showed that close to half of the vehicles exceeded posted 25 MPH speed limits, often by 20 MPH or more.

Starting in fall 2020, City staff and Moreland residents discussed traffic and green infrastructure at five zoom meetings, one in-person traffic calming demonstration, and one in-person Neighbor Night. City Planners also met with neighborhood residents to walk the neighborhood and observe traffic. The year-long engagement process energized the neighborhood about the positive effects of traffic calming and green infrastructure.

To guide the traffic calming process, two virtual neighborhood meetings were held (January 31, 2022 & March 3, 2022) to share potential traffic calming options and to provide the opportunity for neighbors to share observations and provide input into the designs. Meeting attendees and online poll participants supported the installation of tree lawn trees and traffic calming bump-outs/chicanes on Chelton Road at the entrance to Chelton Park and on Scottsdale Boulevard near Pennington Road and, if funding allowed, at Scottsdale near Sudbury Road.

The City designed the traffic calming measures with input from neighborhood residents and included two neighborhood meetings to assess multiple traffic calming treatments and determine the appropriate combination of improvements that provide the best results. Specific improvements were reviewed and a combination of interventions were considered:

Bump-outs
Chicanes/ chokers with grass/landscaping
Trees
High-visibility signage/pavement markings
Resurfacing of Scottsdale Boulevard

Three traffic calming interventions will be constructed. (Click here to view drawings.)

Implementation funding was received from multiple sources shown below. The project must be completed in 2022 to meet grant funding requirements:

$289,500 City funding ($202,000 Scottsdale repaving/$87,500 traffic calming)
$221,389 Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s Green Infrastructure Grant
$30,000 Arbor Day/Boise Paper tree planting grant
$50,000 Cuyahoga County CDSG funds

Schedule

Dates (2022)	Milestones
January to March	Design/engineering (including two neighborhood meetings)
January 31, 7 pm	Neighborhood meeting. View a recording of the meeting (YouTube) \| View the meeting presentation (PDF)
March 3, 7 pm	Neighborhood meeting. View a recording of the meeting (YouTube) \| View the meeting presentation (PDF)
May 7	Boise Paper/Arbor Day tree planting (69 trees)
August-September	Construction bidding and contracting
September-May 2023	Construction; coordinated with Scottsdale Road resurfacing. View construction drawings for traffic calming interventions.

Documents

News

Staff Contacts

Planning Department: Kara Hamley O’Donnell, 216-491-1436