rta track 7.JPG

Track 7 only can be accessed from a separate entrance on the Public Square level of Tower City between Darrio Fashion Group and Victoria's Secret. (Photo: Ginger Christ, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Westbound passengers on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority rail system will get on the train in a new place in Tower City starting Sunday.

RTA on July 31 - a day earlier than initially planned - will close down its westbound track - referred to as Track 8 - for repairs and will reroute those trains to an unused track - Track 7 - through Thanksgiving.

The Tower City tracks last were updated in 1990 and have deteriorated since then.

"All rail lines go through Tower City. If the tracks in Tower City go down, the entire rail system goes down," said Joe Calabrese, CEO of RTA.

The tracks are still safe for now, Calabrese has said, but because of the condition of the track beds, trains have to significantly slow down as they enter Tower City.

RTA hopes to be able to secure funding to repair the other Tower City tracks in the future, but for now is focusing on Track 8. The authority already has applied for federal grant funding for repairs on Tracks 10 and 13.

In opening up Track 7, which is hidden behind a concrete wall at the Tower City station, RTA will be able to continue operating the busy Tower City hub without a reduction in service. And RTA will be able to use Track 7 again when it gets funding to fix the other tracks.

"Let's do something we can use now, and then reuse when we do subsequent projects," Mike Schipper, deputy general manager of engineering and project management for RTA, said about the Track 7 plan.

RTA prepares to open track 7 10 Gallery: RTA prepares to open track 7

To prepare Track 7, RTA refurbished the track at both ends of Tower City, set up accessible platforms and ticketing stations and completed work on the pedestrian access route to the tracks.

The entire project - for repairs on both sets of tracks and for platform construction - cost about $8 million, Schipper said.

How to Ride

Track 7 only can be accessed from a separate entrance on the Public Square level of Tower City between Darrio Fashion Group and Victoria's Secret. New signs will mark the entrance starting July 31 and direct riders to the elevator and stairs leading down to the new platforms.

"There's going to be a lot of walking," Schipper said.

Passengers heading west of Tower City or getting on the Waterfront Line will need to use the Track 7 entrance, as well as those arriving from the east who want to get off at Tower City. Those headed through Tower City from the east will not need to exit the train.

"If you're headed to the airport, just keep going," Schipper said.

The biggest issue will be for special events like Browns games when a number of passengers will need to transfer from the Red Line to the Waterfront Line, Calabrese said.

Those passengers coming into Tower City on the Red Line from the west will need to exit at the normal Tower City station, head up the escalators to the Public Square level, then take the stairs at the RTA secondary entrance - the Track 7 entrance - down to Track 7, which will serve the Waterfront Line.

The first platform for Track 7 will service the Waterfront Line and the second will serve the Red Line.

The authority will have extra personnel working to assist passengers through the transition and will have additional fare enforcement and police officers on hand. And additional staff will be working during Browns games.