CLEVELAND, Ohio - On Tuesday evening, the man who controls Cleveland's streets and the man who controls the buses that run on those streets announced in a joint news conference that the newly renovated Public Square should remain closed to bus traffic.

But just days ago, the two men -- Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority General Manager Joe Calabrese -- stood on very different sides.

A series of letters between city and RTA officials show Calabrese wants buses to cut through the square. Jackson, citing among other things new safety concerns not previously discussed publicly, remains opposed to bisecting the square, a position he's held for years. The letters also show that the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA), which has invested millions in the transit system around Public Square, remains squarely opposed to closing off the bus lane.

Renovations of Public Square had included an expensive section of Superior Avenue through the square built specifically to accommodate bus traffic. The square, which reopened in late June, has been closed to bus traffic since March 2015, when renovations began.

Calabrese asked Jackson in an Oct. 21 letter to open the stretch of Superior through the square on Oct. 31. He said that if the city continued to block access to Superior, the agency would have to repay $12 million to the FTA, which gave RTA federal money to build bus lanes on Superior as part of the HealthLine, the successful bus line that runs from University Circle to Public Square. Calabrese said in the letter that the FTA had recently "reaffirmed its position" that continued closure constitutes a breach of the deal with RTA.

"We are additionally very concerned that this non-compliance with and perceived breach of the [agreement] will threaten both the city's and GCRTA's ability to compete for and receive future FTA funding," Calabrese wrote.

Jackson responded days later with a detailed letter that cites numerous reasons why he feels justified in keeping the square closed. He said RTA was being impatient after having agreed to study - side by side with the city - the potential impact of closure. He also said that in the end, RTA has failed to show how keeping the square closed was delaying buses. Jackson noted that city traffic officials clocked buses moving around the north and south sections of the square just as efficiently as the buses could travel through the square based on current traffic-signal cycles on Superior.

"The letter ignores our agreement to validate [RTA's] assertions that there are financial and operational impacts caused by the continued closure, none of which in the opinion of the city has been demonstrated," Jackson wrote.

Jackson also made another point not discussed publicly before: RTA and the FTA have failed to address safety concerns that were not foreseen when the square was redesigned years ago.

Jackson is referring to an Oct. 3 memo written by Cleveland Safety Director Michael McGrath. In it, McGrath argues that the design of Superior, which the memo says resembles a "pedestrian walkway," creates the "illusion of a unified park, rather than a park bisected by the roadway." McGrath said children using the splash park will not make the distinction and could run into oncoming bus traffic.

McGrath also says that the bus-only lane will unintentionally attract "confused drivers" and "impaired drivers" leaving nearby entertainment venues. (Such an analysis begs the question: Why did Public Square planners and city officials not raise such concerns before they renovated the square? You can read McGrath's entire memo in a viewer below this story.)

Additionally, McGrath says opening Superior could make the square a terrorist target, or security threat. He cites the recent attack in Nice, France, in which a terrorist used a cargo truck to plow into a crowd.

"Opening Public Square to cross traffic would allow a determined person to gain speed traveling on Superior Ave. and divert directly into a crowded area," McGrath wrote.

But Jackson ultimately agrees in the letter to reopen the square -- if the RTA and FTA take full responsibility for safety issues raised by the city and promise in writing to "hold harmless the City of Cleveland from any liabilities."

RTA pushed back in a letter dated Nov. 7. In it, Calabrese said the square's closure has significantly affected the RTA's "on-time performance with the number or late buses increasing by 43 percent." He also said that RTA consulted with the FTA about the safety matters raised by the city and that the FTA says the RTA's proposal for reopening the square is "entirely consistent with federal safety law."

Calabrese further argued that forcing buses to travel around the square puts pedestrians at a greater risk than buses traveling through the square. He noted that buses are currently making an additional 1.2 million turns per year around the square.

On Monday, Jackson again rejected Calabrese's claims. In a Nov. 14 letter, Jackson reiterated his demand for written confirmation from RTA and the FTA that the city will be held harmless for any liability following the reopening of the square. And Jackson again dismissed RTA's assertion that the closure creates "severe operational and financial" impacts.

"There has already been much time devoted to this issue with no real predictable demonstrated negative impact," he wrote.

Despite the back-and-forth missives, the two have now publicly agreed to resolve the outstanding issues and keep the square closed.

But they face another hurdle: Getting the FTA on board.

The FTA has not commented publicly on the issue and has a track record of clawing back federal transportation money when it believes recipients don't live up to agreements.

Reading between the lines of FTA's communications with RTA, it's my opinion that the FTA doesn't buy the safety concerns raised by the city, at least not to the extent that they trump the strings attached to the federal bus money. That money was given to RTA to create a transit zone near the HealthLine to ensure passengers can make efficient connections to other bus routes.

The city and RTA pledged Tuesday to work together to keep the square closed by giving the FTA an alternative plan. By now working together, the city and RTA certainly have a better shot at winning over the FTA.

In the meantime, those celebrating a unified Public Square should not yet plan a celebration on Superior Avenue.

Here is a sample of some of the letters between RTA and the city.