HealthLineis success drives benefits to the Euclid Corridor and beyond

A Healthline bus makes its way to the E. 55 St. station heading eastbound Tuesday, April 26, 2011. (Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)

(Gus Chan, Plain Dealer file photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Federal Transit Administration has put the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority "on notice" over allegations that the HealthLine is not operating as outlined in a 2004 funding deal.

The FTA regional administrator Marisol Simon on Aug. 10 sent a letter to RTA CEO Joe Calabrese, claiming that part of the funding agreement the FTA made with RTA stated that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system would end in Public Square, what Simon referred to as the "heart of Cleveland's central business district."

The agreement called for a Downtown Transit Zone that would facilitate cross-town bus traffic and would mitigate the noise impacts in the city.

In not reopening Public Square to public transit, RTA could be in violation of the agreement it made to receive grant funding for the HealthLine - $82.2 million in discretionary capital investment funds and $60 million in federal funding - the FTA asserts.

"This is a potential breach of the [Full Funding Grant Assessment] between my agency and yours, and we need to protect the substantial investment of federal financial assistance to the HealthLine," Simon writes.

Calabrese said he expects to be talking to the FTA soon.

Buses have been rerouted around Public Square since March 2015 while the area underwent renovations. They were scheduled to return to the square Aug. 1, but have been delayed while the city decides how to ultimately use the renovated green space.

The city is deciding whether to open the square to public transit or to completely close it to traffic.