OH: This busy RTA Rapid station just reopened after a 13-month closing for repairs

The West 117th Street Rapid station reopened Friday, restoring service at one of the busiest stops on the Red Line after a 13-month closure for a major reconstruction project.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority invested $8.6 million in the work, which replaced three aging bridge decks and modernized the station’s platform. Two of the new spans carry eastbound and westbound tracks, while the third supports the passenger platform that sits between them.

The bridges, built in the mid-1950s, cross over West 117th Street at the Cleveland- Lakewood border.

The parking lot, normally heavily used ahead of the closing, was sparse on Friday morning on the first day of the reopening.

“This project is going to extend the life of the bridges,” said Michael Schipper, RTA’s deputy general manager of engineering and project management. “It gives us a new platform. We also designed the platform so it will be easy to modify when the new rail cars come in a couple of years.”

The platform upgrade includes improved lighting and speakers. Because the new fleet of RTA rail cars will be narrower, the design allows for future adjustments.

Coordinating with Norfolk Southern presented challenges, said RTA resident engineer Grant Kersh. Freight tracks run directly alongside the Red Line, requiring a protective steel beam between the systems to prevent falling debris.

The station entrance from the parking lot level was previously rebuilt in 2008.

The Red Line, launched in 1955, became the first commuter rail in the Western Hemisphere to connect directly into an airport terminal. Today, it carries more than 3 million riders a year, with West 117th serving as one of its busiest bus-to-train transfer points.

This update of an earlier story was created with the assistance of A.I.

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