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One architect thinks it's time to seriously consider closing a small stretch of West 25th Street to vehicle traffic to make the road near the West Side Market more like East Fourth Street.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Architect Ronald Sarstedt has a big idea for West 25th Street in Ohio City.

To jaded and uninspired bureaucrats and planners who study the area, his idea might seem a little crazy. That's why I'm bringing it up. Anyone who's followed my columns knows I occasionally write about bold ideas that have been shunned. Blowing off ideas is the real curse of Cleveland.

Sarstedt, a 66-year-old resident of Ohio City, wants to close to traffic a short stretch of West 25th Street, from Gehring Street just south of the West Side Market, to Franklin Avenue, a couple of blocks north of the market.

Think about it. No belching buses, rumbling gravel trucks and snaking lines of cars. Just people and a few bicycles.

Sarstedt says it makes little sense to keep expanding outdoor dining options and encouraging pedestrian interaction on this stretch if traffic and congestion isn't comprehensively addressed. He envisions the area becoming a bigger version of East Fourth Street, the small downtown restaurant and entertainment district that is closed to traffic. But unlike East Fourth Street, West 25th Street is a major artery so the challenges are far greater.

Sarstedt's plan is still worth talking about because this stretch of West 25th Street, which includes the West Side Market and breweries and new housing, is among the hottest in the city. And it's gotten a lot of attention recently because of parking problems around the market. My columns on the parking controversy spurred Sarstedt to reach out.

Sarstedt's plan calls for rerouting traffic only slightly, just yards, to a parallel road that could be completed with a little imagination.

On the south end, traffic would be diverted to Gehring Street. It juts off of West 25th Street and becomes -- at Lorain Avenue -- West. 24th Street, which is currently closed and serves as an access road for market vendors.

On the north end of the proposed closed stretch, traffic would be diverted to Franklin Avenue, which crosses West 25th Street and curves south.

In Sarstedt's plan, a short new road running through what is now the Ohio City Gardens connects Franklin Avenue and West 24th Street. (You can see a map of this road and entire plan below.)

"It's so simple everyone will be afraid of the idea," Sarstedt recently told me over coffee at the West Side Market.

Sarstedt has designed homes, building interiors and urban plans since 1976 and has worked on projects for the Jacobs Group, AT&T and other big corporations. He was an early pioneer in Ohio City, living there from 1973 to 1981 in a house he designed. He returned to the neighborhood a few years ago.

He sketched his idea for West 25th Street and attached it to his resume when his firm, Elements, answered a call for architects in 2010 from Ohio City Inc., the local development non-profit, which was looking to hire someone to produce a study. (Sarstedt's firm was unsuccessful in landing the work.) But Sarstedt never stopped thinking about his sketch and Market Square.

He's since fleshed out the idea, addressing issues of parking, the gardens and RTA bus stops. And he's sent his plans to numerous developers, City Hall officials and others encouraging them to begin thinking about his plan.

Sadly, he's not heard back from anyone with questions about his plan.

"Everyone has done a great job in the area, but let's take the next step," Sarstedt said. "I would love to see everyone working together and thinking about a comprehensive plan."

His plan calls for building a 1,600 car-parking garage over the railroad tracks near the RTA rapid station, which is at Lorain Avenue and Gehring Street. This would provide far more parking than is available now behind the market.

Sarstedt's plan also would move the bus stops currently in front of the West Side Market to nearby Gehring Avenue. These are busy and important bus stops but do we really have to clog a key intersection with buses?

The Ohio City Gardens, according to Sarstedt's plan, would be moved to what is now the market's parking lot.

There's no doubt Sarstedt's vision is complicated and expensive and involves lots of agencies and governments. His plan doesn't address how to pay for the changes, though that's generally not an architect's job.

Sarstedt, who likes to quote Buckminster Fuller and Eleanor Roosevelt, is not after much. He just wants to inspire discussion.

"Everyone is happy with the status quo," he said.

I hope planners and leaders far smarter than me will talk about his plan because it's the kind of idea that will surface again years from now – when it's too late.

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