Louis Stokes Station at Windermere

Louis Stokes Station at Windermere is a rapid transit station on the RTA Red Line in East Cleveland, Ohio. It is located on the northwest side of Euclid Avenue (U.S. Routes 6 and 20) between Bryn Mawr and Doan Roads. It is the eastern terminus of the Red Line and the bus rapid transit HealthLine.

Louis Stokes Station at Windermere
rapid transit and bus rapid transit station
Location	14233 Euclid Avenue, East Cleveland, Ohio
Coordinates	41°31′50″N 81°35′6″W
Owned by	Greater Cleveland RTA
Line(s)	Lake Erie District (Norfolk Southern)
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	RTA: 3, 28, 28A, 30, 37, 41, 41F
Construction
Structure type	Embankment
Parking	410 spaces[1]
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Website	Louis Stokes/Windermere Rapid Station
History
Opened	March 15, 1955
Rebuilt	June 22, 1997
Previous names	Windermere
Original company	Cleveland Transit System
Services
Preceding station Rapid Transit Following station Superior toward Airport Red Line Terminus Debra Ann Lane toward Public Square–West Roadway HealthLine Belmore Road One-way operation

History

Prior to being a rapid transit station, the site was the location of the Windermere Car Barn of the Cleveland Railway and its successor, the Cleveland Transit System (CTS). As streetcars were retired in favor of buses, Windermere also became a bus garage.

On February 4, 1952, CTS broke ground for its rapid transit behind the Windermere Car Barn,[2] on the same embankment as the Nickel Plate railway tracks. The new station, called simply "Windermere Station," opened with the CTS Rapid Transit on March 15, 1955.[3]

As originally constructed, the station included on the embankment level a car yard and car shops for the rapid transit and a loop to allow trains to turn around if needed (although the car sets all had operator cabs are both ends). On the south side below the tracks, there were a fare collection headhouse, three bus loading loops and a small free parking lot off Euclid Avenue, along with an elevated walkway over the bus loops to the Euclid Avenue parking lot. A pedestrian tunnel beneath the embankment carrying rapid transit and railway tracks connected the station to a larger free parking lot on the northwest side of the tracks. The entrance to the northwest parking lot was from Hayden Avenue. The Hayden bus garage was also built adjacent to the northwest lot to replace the Windermere Car Barn.

The Windermere car shops were abandoned when RTA opened its new $23-million Central Rail Maintenance Facility opened on April 29, 1984 on a 20-acre (8.1 ha) site at East 55th Street.[2] The Hayden parking lot also closed as the additional parking was not needed and use of the tunnel was perceived by most passengers as a security risk.

The original station was demolished and an entirely new station was constructed as part of RTA's program of station reconstruction beginning in the late 1990s. The new $12.7-million station opened on June 22, 1997.[4] The turnaround loop and the car shops were eliminated. In November 1997, RTA renamed the station “Louis Stokes Station at Windermere” in honor of the Congressman Louis Stokes “for his many years of unwavering support.”[2] In 1998, RTA completed a $21-million renovation of the Hayden bus garage.[2]

The property directly southwest of the Euclid Avenue parking area has been used for the construction of a Head Start Center, which was dedicated November 22, 2002.[5] It was the first Head Start Center in Greater Cleveland built next to a rapid transit station, making the facility accessible for many of the families eligible for Head Start who do not have cars.

Station layout

P Platform level	Lake Erie District	← Norfolk Southern Railway
		← Norfolk Southern Railway →
	Bypass track	← No service →
	Westbound	←      Red Line toward Airport (Superior)
	Island platform
	Westbound	←      Red Line toward Airport (Superior)
G	Street level	Exit/entrance, station house, buses, parking

Notable places nearby

• East Cleveland
• Nela Park

References

1. 2007 Park-and-Ride Inventory/Survey, NOACA 2006 Transit Network Guide Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, June 2007, p. 29.
2. "About RTA: History of Public Transit in Greater Cleveland". RTA Website. Archived from the original on 2007-06-23. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
3. Exner, Rich (March 14, 2005). "Red Line rapid marks 50 years in service". The Plain Dealer. p. A1. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
4. "RTA's Red Line Rail Service to Operate from New Windermere Station" (Press release). Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. June 20, 1997. Archived from the original on October 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
5. Perkins, Olivia (November 23, 2002). "Unique site to help put kids on track Head Start opens at RTA train stop". The Plain Dealer. p. B1. Retrieved 2007-06-02.

External links

• Photos of Windermere Car Barn from East Cleveland Public Library