Broadway - Harvard intersection excavation

Between 1905 and 1908 the Miles/Broadway/Harvard Avenue and Warner Road area underwent a dramatic change.

When the Pennsylvania Company, operators of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railway, proposed to run a second pair of tracks down Broadway, angered residents quickly passed a local ordinance mandating that these tracks be placed 500 feet southeast of Broadway to prevent further smoke pollution of the area.

The railroad's position was further complicated by a 1903 law requiring tracks to be elevated over grade crossings. The bill was applied to the railroad in a June 5th, 1905 city ordinance stipulating that Broadway is to be depressed not more than eight feet southeast of Harvard and overhead tracks were to be elevated 14 feet over the Harvard/Broadway intersection.

However, another June 5th ordinance also spelled out the financial obligations assumed by the railroad and the city when the 1903 law was enforced. Another June 26th ordinance also authorized the laying of sewers along E.93rd Street and another stated that Broadway Avenue was to be relocated 120 feet northwest at E. 93rd Street.

This and the other relocation photographs document the excavation.  Fill from this project was used to rechannel the flow of Mill Creek Falls which lay in the path of the proposed railroad right-of-way.

With the excavation of the intersection, businesses suddenly found themselves with entrances one story below their former level.  Temporary stairways had to built to the old street level entrances until more permanent construction took place.  The City of Cleveland eventually compensated business owners for the inconvenience.

Many homeowners also found themselves with main entrances sometimes more than a story above the new grade level. Temporary stairways had to built to the old street level entrances until more permanent construction took place.