I don't think Cleveland's Euclid Corridor Project is as wonderful as many believe it to be. I lived in Cleveland (and worked a block away from Euclid Ave) while it was being discussed, planned, built & completed.
Like the boondoggle medical mart issue in Cleveland, I followed this issue closely & continue to do so (admittedly less so since I moved & so much of this is from memory).
First, much of the development along Euclid Ave would have happened regardless of whether or not the project happened. Indeed, a good deal of it was in the planning stages before the project ever came about such as, if I remember correctly, all the money Cleveland State is spending/has spent.
But the Plain Dealer, big champions of the project, added up all the money being invested in that area & attributed it to the project, regardless of whether that was accurate or not.
Second, there are those (including within RTA) who will tell you all of the utility lines & whatever else running below Euclid Ave were in need of repair, replacement, whatever. However, those involved knew it would be an easier sell to get funding if the plans included something new & shiny instead of an unsexy infrastructure-only project.
Third, the time it took to complete the project decimated various small businesses along Euclid Ave who could no longer attract customers because of a lack of parking & access. They couldn't weather the storm & shut down.
Finally, Cleveland already had plenty of buses to take people back & forth between downtown & the hospitals on the east side, which was the publicly-stated goal of the project. No further public transportation was needed. I forget the exact figure, but taking the shiny new thing instead of regular buses or cars shaves only a handful of minutes off the trip. Hardly worth the millions of dollars for the stated goal.
It is for these types of reasons I've always been opposed to running something like a trolley between Broad St & OSU along High Street, as has been discussed on this board numerous times. The payoff of traffic problems, businesses losing money/customers & the millions & millions of dollars it would cost vs. whatever minor payoff nowhere near justify putting something along a route already served by numerous bus lines.